--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It didn't matter that I wore clothes from…" description: "\"It didn't matter that I wore clothes from Sears; I was still different. I looked different. My name was different. I wanted to pull away from the thing..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e1/jhumpa-lahiri-1596_being-different_it-didn-t-matter-that-i-wore-clothes-fro_2571403.png" --- # It didn't matter that I wore clothes from Sears; I was… ![“It didn't matter that I wore clothes from Sears; I was still different. I looked different. My name was different. I wanted to pull away from the things that marked my parents as being different.” quote by Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e1/jhumpa-lahiri-1596_being-different_it-didn-t-matter-that-i-wore-clothes-fro_2571403.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e1/jhumpa-lahiri-1596_being-different_it-didn-t-matter-that-i-wore-clothes-fro_2571403.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e1/jhumpa-lahiri-1596_being-different_it-didn-t-matter-that-i-wore-clothes-fro_2571403.png) > “It didn't matter that I wore clothes from Sears; I was still different. I looked different. My name was different. I wanted to pull away from the things that marked my parents as being different.” [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator seeks to distance themselves from parental identity markers, illustrating a struggle for personal distinctiveness. **In simple terms:** Desire to be different from parents. Key Takeaway Recognize and integrate heritage while forging personal identity. Themes identity family culture self‑definition belonging Mood reflective introspective Type literary personal. When to use this quote - college life - career choices - social circles - family reunions Key Concepts anthropology psychology diaspora studies Questions to Reflect On - How can you honor your roots while being yourself? - What aspects of your background empower you? A Different Perspective Rejecting heritage can cause alienation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Being different](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-different/) [Clothes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clothes/) [Clothes Sears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clothes-sears-1694298/) [Different](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/different/) [Fashion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fashion/) [Looked Different](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looked-different-1189056/) [Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter/) [Names](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/names/) [Parent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parent/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Parents Different](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parents-different-1570704/) [Sears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sears/) [Sears Different](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sears-different-1694297/) [Stills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stills/) [Wanted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanted/) [Wore Clothes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wore-clothes-780915/) ## Related quotes > [I wanted to pull away from the things that marked my parents as being different.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/i-wanted-to-pull-away-from-the-things-that-marked-my-parents-as-being/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [I know a lot of parents of kid actors I've worked with have pressured them into acting, but my parents are different. I'm really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-browning/i-know-a-lot-of-parents-of-kid-actors-i-ve-worked-with-have-pressured/) [Emily Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-browning/) > [My parents are from a whole different culture. My parents are from small-town Louisiana. It's like, if it walk like a duck, talk like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bun-b/my-parents-are-from-a-whole-different-culture-my-parents-are-from/) [Bun B](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bun-b/) > [My parents have very different tastes. They exposed me to so many different things. I represent both sides.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriella-wilson/my-parents-have-very-different-tastes-they-exposed-me-to-so-many/) [Gabriella Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriella-wilson/) > [Lemurs are good parents but they do it in different ways. I originally studied father care. I was very interested in that and we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-wright/lemurs-are-good-parents-but-they-do-it-in-different-ways-i-originally/) [Patricia Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-wright/) > [I think all kinds of parents are different in what they're seeking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-spellings/i-think-all-kinds-of-parents-are-different-in-what-they-re-seeking/) [Margaret Spellings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-spellings/) > [When you grow up, you don't realize that your parents are any different than anybody else's. And their behavior - you have nothing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-lapine/when-you-grow-up-you-don-t-realize-that-your-parents-are-any/) [James Lapine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-lapine/) > [My intentions are I'm living my life and my life is created by my parents, my different experiences, my languages, my culture and, yeah,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaria-baldwin/my-intentions-are-i-m-living-my-life-and-my-life-is-created-by-my/) [Hilaria Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaria-baldwin/) > [My family are very supportive and always have been. They weren't the kind of parents that pushed me into it. I know a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-browning/my-family-are-very-supportive-and-always-have-been-they-weren-t-the/) [Emily Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-browning/) > [I try to keep a balance. I actually believe that children want normal parents, they don't want celebrities or important parents or anything different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-hamilton/i-try-to-keep-a-balance-i-actually-believe-that-children-want-normal/) [Linda Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-hamilton/) > [Teenagers are too much misunderstood, we are like an algebra problem for parents. We have different ways of solving them so the parents make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/experience/teenagers-are-too-much-misunderstood-we-are-like-an-algebra-problem/) [Experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/experience/) > [Knowingly or unknowingly, every person has a particular role to play in their lives. When you are with your friends you are something else.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/koel-mallick/knowingly-or-unknowingly-every-person-has-a-particular-role-to-play/) [Koel Mallick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/koel-mallick/) > [Different parents have different standards for their children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-spheeris/different-parents-have-different-standards-for-their-children/) [Penelope Spheeris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-spheeris/) > [Any child may go through periods during which they become less outspoken with their parents or teachers. But girls, like boys, live in many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-hoff-sommers/any-child-may-go-through-periods-during-which-they-become-less/) [Christina Hoff Sommers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-hoff-sommers/) > [“The experience of looking at parenthood through the eyes of parents in different cultures has opened my mind and challenged some of the beliefs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mei-ling-hopgood/the-experience-of-looking-at-parenthood-through-the-eyes-of-parents/) [Mei-Ling Hopgood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mei-ling-hopgood/) ## More by Jhumpa Lahiri > [“Assured by his grades and his apparent indifference to girls, his parents don't suspect Gogol of being, in his own fumbling way, an American…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/assured-by-his-grades-and-his-apparent-indifference-to-girls-his/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [...that in spite of living in a mansion an American is not above wearing a pair of secondhand pants, bought for fifty cents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/that-in-spite-of-living-in-a-mansion-an-american-is-not-above-wearing/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [He owned an expensive camera that required thought before you pressed the shutter, and I quickly became his favorite subject, round-faced, missing teeth, my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/he-owned-an-expensive-camera-that-required-thought-before-you-pressed/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [If I stop to think about fans, or best-selling, or not best-selling, or good reviews, or not-good reviews, it just becomes too much. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/if-i-stop-to-think-about-fans-or-best-selling-or-not-best-selling-or/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [“This tradition doesn't exist for Bengalis, naming a son after father or grandfather, a daughter after mother or grandmother. This sign of respect in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/this-tradition-doesn-t-exist-for-bengalis-naming-a-son-after-father/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [I wanted to pull away from the things that marked my parents as being different.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/i-wanted-to-pull-away-from-the-things-that-marked-my-parents-as-being/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [“Ashoke suspects that Mrs. Jones (the secretary at his new job as a professor) ...is about his own mother's age. Mrs. Jones leads a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/ashoke-suspects-that-mrs-jones-the-secretary-at-his-new-job-as-a/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [But she has gathered that Americans, in spite of their public declarations of affection, in spite of their miniskirts and bikinis, in spite of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/but-she-has-gathered-that-americans-in-spite-of-their-public/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [The sky was different, without color, taut and unforgiving. But the water was the most unforgiving thing, nearly black at times, cold enough, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/the-sky-was-different-without-color-taut-and-unforgiving-but-the/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [“In those six weeks I regarded her arrival as I would the arrival of a coming month, or season - something inevitable, but meaningless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/in-those-six-weeks-i-regarded-her-arrival-as-i-would-the-arrival-of-a/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [There were times Ruma felt closer to her mother in death than she had in life, an intimacy born simply of thinking of her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/there-were-times-ruma-felt-closer-to-her-mother-in-death-than-she-had/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [“Writing down call numbers with short pencils, searching up and down aisles that would turn dark when the timers on the lights expired. She…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/writing-down-call-numbers-with-short-pencils-searching-up-and-down/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [Winning the Pulitzer is wonderful and it's an honor and I feel so humbled and so grateful, but I think that I'll think of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/winning-the-pulitzer-is-wonderful-and-it-s-an-honor-and-i-feel-so/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [He tries to peel the image from the sticky yellow backing, to show her the next time he sees her, but it clings stubbornly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/he-tries-to-peel-the-image-from-the-sticky-yellow-backing-to-show-her/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [“If I stop to think about fans, or bestselling, or not bestselling, or good reviews, or not-good reviews, it just becomes too much. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/if-i-stop-to-think-about-fans-or-bestselling-or-not-bestselling-or/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) [Explore all 215 Jhumpa Lahiri quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) ## More Being different quotes > [You are no mistake. What makes you different is what makes you special, unique, original. You are a MASTERPIECE, a PIECE of the MASTER!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-w-griffin/you-are-no-mistake-what-makes-you-different-is-what-makes-you-special/) [Kenneth W Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-w-griffin/) > [Just because someone is different from yourself does not mean you should treat them badly. What you don't understand is not to be taken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenna-bognar/just-because-someone-is-different-from-yourself-does-not-mean-you/) [Jenna Bognar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenna-bognar/) > [Not everyone is capable of madness; and of those lucky enough to be capable, not many have the courage for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-strindberg/not-everyone-is-capable-of-madness-and-of-those-lucky-enough-to-be/) [August Strindberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-strindberg/) > [You're trying too HARD to convince me that you're a TRUE friend & DEEP Down Inside you know you're not but you stick around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ta-nisha-marie/you-re-trying-too-hard-to-convince-me-that-you-re-a-true-friend-deep/) [Ta'Nisha Marie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ta-nisha-marie/) > [I suppose what I look for most in a part, other than it being different than the part before, is: Does he interest me?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freddie-fox/i-suppose-what-i-look-for-most-in-a-part-other-than-it-being/) [Freddie Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freddie-fox/) > [Give yourself a chance to live because nobody will live it for you when you die](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/give-yourself-a-chance-to-live-because-nobody-will-live-it-for-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. 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It can and will work for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/don-t-be-afraid-to-be-different-make-your-differences-into-advantages/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Tomorrow can be better or worse but will never be same as today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ash-sweeney/tomorrow-can-be-better-or-worse-but-will-never-be-same-as-today/) [Ash Sweeney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ash-sweeney/) > [It takes a real man to love you differently from the rest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lita/it-takes-a-real-man-to-love-you-differently-from-the-rest/) [Lita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lita/) > [Sometimes being different is not going to be the most popular thing. 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