--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You don't have to make your life look…" description: "\"You don't have to make your life look like anybody else says it should look.\" — Dee Rees" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cff/dee-rees-4528_life_you-don-t-have-to-make-your-life-look-li_2947716.png" --- # You don't have to make your life look like anybody else… ![“You don't have to make your life look like anybody else says it should look.” quote by Dee Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cff/dee-rees-4528_life_you-don-t-have-to-make-your-life-look-li_2947716.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cff/dee-rees-4528_life_you-don-t-have-to-make-your-life-look-li_2947716.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cff/dee-rees-4528_life_you-don-t-have-to-make-your-life-look-li_2947716.png) > “You don't have to make your life look like anybody else says it should look.” [Dee Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Encourages individuality, stating you don’t need to conform to others’ expectations for your life. **In simple terms:** Live life on your own terms. Key Takeaway Embrace personal authenticity. Themes self‑acceptance individuality societal pressure Mood motivational empowering Type self‑help personal development When to use this quote - career choices - personal relationships - creative pursuits Key Concepts identity formation mental health Questions to Reflect On - How do you define your own success? - What steps help you resist conformity? A Different Perspective Social pressure persists. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ## Related quotes > [My brain says look up, my body says get up & my heart says dont ever give up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-r-bailey/my-brain-says-look-up-my-body-says-get-up-my-heart-says-dont-ever/) Terence R Bailey > [Zen says: be empty. Look without any idea. Look into the nature of things but with no idea, with no prejudice, with no presupposition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/zen-says-be-empty-look-without-any-idea-look-into-the-nature-of/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [“You okay there, Stiff?” he says. “You look like you’re about to cry. I might go easy on you if you cry.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-roth/you-okay-there-stiff-he-says-you-look-like-you-re-about-to-cry-i/) [Veronica Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-roth/) > [“is wondering if the queen pulls the duvet up so you can only see her head, then says "Look Philip i'm a stamp!".”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-gregory/is-wondering-if-the-queen-pulls-the-duvet-up-so-you-can-only-see-her/) [Mike Gregory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-gregory/) > [My style says, 'Look at me, don't look at me.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/my-style-says-look-at-me-don-t-look-at-me/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [She says it has nothing to do with what you look like, or what you have. It has only to do with what you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-hodgson-burnett/she-says-it-has-nothing-to-do-with-what-you-look-like-or-what-you/) [Frances Hodgson Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-hodgson-burnett/) > [O'Connor lives by the following words: You don't look back. When people ask O'Connor now, "Aren't you sorry you resigned because everything you voted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-hirshman/o-connor-lives-by-the-following-words-you-don-t-look-back-when-people/) [Linda Hirshman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-hirshman/) > [“Why are you doing this? – I ask. Doing what? Being so nice to me I don't know,”he says. “You look like you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lara-m-zeises/why-are-you-doing-this-i-ask-doing-what-being-so-nice-to-me-i-don-t/) [Lara M. Zeises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lara-m-zeises/) > [I go on YouTube when somebody says to look something up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-clooney/i-go-on-youtube-when-somebody-says-to-look-something-up/) [George Clooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-clooney/) > [“First of all is the fact that I have some rather good turns of phrase. I don't say that pridefully ... it's just that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-heffington/first-of-all-is-the-fact-that-i-have-some-rather-good-turns-of-phrase/) [Rachel Heffington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-heffington/) > [“When someone says you can't, look at where they are sitting. Perhaps they meant they can't.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-fargo/when-someone-says-you-can-t-look-at-where-they-are-sitting-perhaps/) [Tim Fargo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-fargo/) > [Everyone always says, 'When you look at a boy band, one of them has to be gay.' No, they don't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-mclean/everyone-always-says-when-you-look-at-a-boy-band-one-of-them-has-to/) [A. J. McLean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-mclean/) > [“When you don't know what you're searching for,” he says, “you have to look absolutely everywhere.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-black/when-you-don-t-know-what-you-re-searching-for-he-says-you-have-to/) [Holly Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-black/) > [When one of us says 'look, there is nothing out there,' what we are really saying is, 'I cannot see'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/when-one-of-us-says-look-there-is-nothing-out-there-what-we-are/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [“FRANTASTICA: You Know Who says you look fabulous, darlink. ;) SERAFINA67: ONG Voldemort has been eyeing me up? FRANTASTICA: Well, you are looking a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-day/frantastica-you-know-who-says-you-look-fabulous-darlink-serafina67/) [Susie Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-day/) ## More by Dee Rees > [I want people to get from 'Pariah' that it's okay to be you and not to check a box as a parent or child.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-rees/i-want-people-to-get-from-pariah-that-it-s-okay-to-be-you-and-not-to/) [Dee Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/) > [I thought I'd get an MBA, and then I could be anything. And I'd write on the side. That was the idea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-rees/i-thought-i-d-get-an-mba-and-then-i-could-be-anything-and-i-d-write/) [Dee Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/) > [I thought that marketing was a way to be creative in business but quickly learned all creative stuff happens at the ad agency.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-rees/i-thought-that-marketing-was-a-way-to-be-creative-in-business-but/) [Dee Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/) > [When I first started going out to lesbian clubs, I felt a very binary recreation of hetero culture. There are butches and femmes, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-rees/when-i-first-started-going-out-to-lesbian-clubs-i-felt-a-very-binary/) [Dee Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/) > [I was always going to direct. I wasn't going to hand my characters over to anyone else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-rees/i-was-always-going-to-direct-i-wasn-t-going-to-hand-my-characters/) [Dee Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/) > [My ultimate dream was just to be an auteur.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-rees/my-ultimate-dream-was-just-to-be-an-auteur/) [Dee Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/) > [For me, books were my source of affirmation. Alice Walker, Audrey Lord - it was these authors who wrote about their experiences. It was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-rees/for-me-books-were-my-source-of-affirmation-alice-walker-audrey-lord/) [Dee Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/) > [When I first came out, holidays were hard. I reached a point where I didn't go home anymore. I constructed my own, kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-rees/when-i-first-came-out-holidays-were-hard-i-reached-a-point-where-i/) [Dee Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/) > [You can't be limited by your own experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-rees/you-can-t-be-limited-by-your-own-experience/) [Dee Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/) > [We shouldn't be discriminating against each other. The whole 'light skin versus dark skin' is an idea we need to break down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-rees/we-shouldn-t-be-discriminating-against-each-other-the-whole-light/) [Dee Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/) > [Going into a room and saying, 'I'm a black lesbian' - it's a strike against you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-rees/going-into-a-room-and-saying-i-m-a-black-lesbian-it-s-a-strike/) [Dee Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/) > [Each moment is defined by a multitude of histories, the past constantly converging upon us, perpetually decaying and reforming itself on the steady pulse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-rees/each-moment-is-defined-by-a-multitude-of-histories-the-past/) [Dee Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/) > [I'd go to lesbian parties. I felt like I wasn't hard enough to be butch, but I wasn't wearing heels and a skirt -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-rees/i-d-go-to-lesbian-parties-i-felt-like-i-wasn-t-hard-enough-to-be/) [Dee Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/) > [Before Charlottesville, it might have been easy to dismiss the plot of 'Mudbound' as no longer relevant. Now, I feel like audiences will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-rees/before-charlottesville-it-might-have-been-easy-to-dismiss-the-plot-of/) [Dee Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/) > [For me, like, obviously, I want to see myself onscreen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-rees/for-me-like-obviously-i-want-to-see-myself-onscreen/) [Dee Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/) [Explore all 109 Dee Rees quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/) ## More Life quotes > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life works most perfectly when a reciprocal love relationship is in place between man and God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/life-works-most-perfectly-when-a-reciprocal-love-relationship-is-in/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [I value the experiences that come with life too much to sit by and not put my full effort into them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-miller/i-value-the-experiences-that-come-with-life-too-much-to-sit-by-and/) [Jim Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-miller/) > [Entertainment is a sacred pursuit when done well. When done well, it raises the quality of human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/entertainment-is-a-sacred-pursuit-when-done-well-when-done-well-it/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [“There's more to life than you can see. Your sight is limited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tammy-kling/there-s-more-to-life-than-you-can-see-your-sight-is-limited/) [Tammy Kling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tammy-kling/) > [“I've spent much of my life calling my intuition "something wrong with me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deanna-l-lawlis/i-ve-spent-much-of-my-life-calling-my-intuition-something-wrong-with/) Deanna L. Lawlis > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/) [Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/) > [The only people who think the Internet is a calamity are people whose lives have been hurt by it; the only people who insist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/the-only-people-who-think-the-internet-is-a-calamity-are-people-whose/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [The one thing that I keep learning over and over again is that I don't know nothing. I mean, that's my life lesson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-johnson/the-one-thing-that-i-keep-learning-over-and-over-again-is-that-i-don/) [Dwayne Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-johnson/) > [“THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write,    To thank the God of nature, who conveyed    My soul to me, and with such care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-tale-of-my-sore-troubled-life-i-write-to-thank-the-god-of-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The future is only an indifferent void no one cares about, but the past is filled with life, and its countenance is irritating, repellent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-future-is-only-an-indifferent-void-no-one-cares-about-but-the/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Two things revolutionised life: moving to the countryside and falling in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-love/two-things-revolutionised-life-moving-to-the-countryside-and-falling/) [Nick Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-love/) > [But just remember, life without me would be even more unbearable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/but-just-remember-life-without-me-would-be-even-more-unbearable/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) [Browse all 265,290 Life quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "You don't have to make your life look like anybody else says it should look.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Dee Rees" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-rees/you-don-t-have-to-make-your-life-look-like-anybody-else-says-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Life" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-rees/you-don-t-have-to-make-your-life-look-like-anybody-else-says-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cff/dee-rees-4528_life_you-don-t-have-to-make-your-life-look-li_2947716.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cff/dee-rees-4528_life_you-don-t-have-to-make-your-life-look-li_2947716.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cff/dee-rees-4528_life_you-don-t-have-to-make-your-life-look-li_2947716.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You don't have to make your life look like anybody else says it should look.” — Dee Rees", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Dee Rees", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "You don't have to make your...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-rees/you-don-t-have-to-make-your-life-look-like-anybody-else-says-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-rees/you-don-t-have-to-make-your-life-look-like-anybody-else-says-it/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```