--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As for me, I've chosen to follow a simple…" description: "\"As for me, I've chosen to follow a simple course: Come clean. And wherever possible, live your life in a way that won't leave you tempted to lie. Faili..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21c/joyce-maynard-7181_chosen_as-for-me-i-ve-chosen-to-follow-a-simple_1073960.jpg" --- # As for me, I've chosen to follow a simple course: Come… ![“As for me, I've chosen to follow a simple course: Come clean. And wherever possible, live your life in a way that won't leave you tempted to lie. Failing that, I'd rather be disliked for who I truly am than loved for who I am not. So, I tell my story. I write it down. I even publish it. Sometimes…” quote by Joyce Maynard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21c/joyce-maynard-7181_chosen_as-for-me-i-ve-chosen-to-follow-a-simple_1073960.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21c/joyce-maynard-7181_chosen_as-for-me-i-ve-chosen-to-follow-a-simple_1073960.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21c/joyce-maynard-7181_chosen_as-for-me-i-ve-chosen-to-follow-a-simple_1073960.jpg) > “As for me, I've chosen to follow a simple course: Come clean. And wherever possible, live your life in a way that won't leave you tempted to lie. Failing that, I'd rather be disliked for who I truly am than loved for who I am not. So, I tell my story. I write it down. I even publish it. Sometimes this is a humbling experience. Sometimes it's embarrassing. But I haul around no terrible secrets.” [Joyce Maynard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-maynard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Live honestly, accept the discomfort of truth, and share your story to avoid hidden shame. **In simple terms:** Be truthful and own your story. Key Takeaway Choose honesty over approval. Themes integrity vulnerability self‑acceptance Mood reflective candid Type personal motivational When to use this quote - personal relationships - public speaking - writing memoirs - social media - therapy Key Concepts authenticity self‑disclosure Questions to Reflect On - What truth are you avoiding? - How does sharing your story change your self‑view? A Different Perspective Honesty can damage relationships and cause social isolation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Humbling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humbling/) [Humbling experiences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humbling-experiences/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Secret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret/) [Secrets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secrets/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Who i am](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/who-i-am/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Everybody should be entitled to one lie, one failing, one infidelity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-firrell/everybody-should-be-entitled-to-one-lie-one-failing-one-infidelity/) [Martin Firrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-firrell/) > [Any time you have someone come up and say they love what you do and they get great joy from it is a very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hemsworth/any-time-you-have-someone-come-up-and-say-they-love-what-you-do-and/) [Chris Hemsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hemsworth/) > [It's a humbling experience for me to be in this position.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lebron-james/it-s-a-humbling-experience-for-me-to-be-in-this-position/) [LeBron James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lebron-james/) > [I would have to say that first preseason game. Just to put the pads on as an NFL player for the first time. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giovani-bernard/i-would-have-to-say-that-first-preseason-game-just-to-put-the-pads-on/) [Giovani Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giovani-bernard/) > [The acting world is a humbling experience, I find.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharlto-copley/the-acting-world-is-a-humbling-experience-i-find/) [Sharlto Copley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharlto-copley/) > [As far as being a 'player's player,' you've only got to go to Nashville or Argentina and you can forget about it. 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It has touched me deeply to see so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/queen-elizabeth-ii/the-events-that-i-have-attended-to-mark-my-diamond-jubilee-have-been/) [Queen Elizabeth II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/queen-elizabeth-ii/) > [What libraries give you is all three tenses - the past tense - the present tense in which we live and the future that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-hamill/what-libraries-give-you-is-all-three-tenses-the-past-tense-the/) [Pete Hamill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-hamill/) > [I think it's helped me evolve all around, as an artist and as a person. I think we need something, need something to believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-montgomery/i-think-it-s-helped-me-evolve-all-around-as-an-artist-and-as-a-person/) [Ryan Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-montgomery/) > [I think the one thing that athletics prepared me for thats been more beneficial than anything has been the humbling times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoff-stults/i-think-the-one-thing-that-athletics-prepared-me-for-thats-been-more/) [Geoff Stults](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoff-stults/) > [A fighter's dream is to win a world title and gain financial stability. But what is happening to me now is the most humbling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manny-pacquiao/a-fighter-s-dream-is-to-win-a-world-title-and-gain-financial/) [Manny Pacquiao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manny-pacquiao/) > [Again and again, I've undergone the humbling experience of first lamenting how badly something sucks, then only much later having the crucial insight that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-aaronson/again-and-again-i-ve-undergone-the-humbling-experience-of-first/) [Scott Aaronson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-aaronson/) > [To be honest, when you're younger and cooler, you say those sort of things don't mean anything, but then on the day when they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-crowe/to-be-honest-when-you-re-younger-and-cooler-you-say-those-sort-of/) [Russell Crowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-crowe/) ## More by Joyce Maynard > [The silence was part of the story I wanted to tell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-maynard/the-silence-was-part-of-the-story-i-wanted-to-tell/) [Joyce Maynard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-maynard/) > [A person who deserves my loyalty receives it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-maynard/a-person-who-deserves-my-loyalty-receives-it/) [Joyce Maynard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-maynard/) > [No, I said. I didn't remember that. There was so much to remember, sometimes the best thing was to forget.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-maynard/no-i-said-i-didn-t-remember-that-there-was-so-much-to-remember/) [Joyce Maynard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-maynard/) > [“I tried to think of what my father would tell me. 'Don't let any boy give you shit.' But he'd never said how we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-maynard/i-tried-to-think-of-what-my-father-would-tell-me-don-t-let-any-boy/) [Joyce Maynard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-maynard/) > [“It’s like life: sometimes the littlest thing turns out to be the most important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-maynard/it-s-like-life-sometimes-the-littlest-thing-turns-out-to-be-the-most/) [Joyce Maynard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-maynard/) > [Growing up in the fifties and sixties, I can only remember knowing one child, ever, whose parents got a divorce, and hardly any whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-maynard/growing-up-in-the-fifties-and-sixties-i-can-only-remember-knowing-one/) [Joyce Maynard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-maynard/) > [“She was in love with love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-maynard/she-was-in-love-with-love/) [Joyce Maynard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-maynard/) > [I believe every one of us possesses a fundamental right to tell our own story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-maynard/i-believe-every-one-of-us-possesses-a-fundamental-right-to-tell-our/) [Joyce Maynard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-maynard/) > [I compromised my ability to tell my story, at the most basic level.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-maynard/i-compromised-my-ability-to-tell-my-story-at-the-most-basic-level/) [Joyce Maynard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-maynard/) > [I have no doubt that over the years my children will find plenty of things about me to criticize. But something tells me that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-maynard/i-have-no-doubt-that-over-the-years-my-children-will-find-plenty-of/) [Joyce Maynard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-maynard/) > [I believed my story would be helpful to young women my daughter's age, who are still in the process of forming themselves as women,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-maynard/i-believed-my-story-would-be-helpful-to-young-women-my-daughter-s-age/) [Joyce Maynard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-maynard/) > [Not only did I avoid speaking of Salinger; I resisted thinking about him. I did not reread his letters to me. The experience had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-maynard/not-only-did-i-avoid-speaking-of-salinger-i-resisted-thinking-about/) [Joyce Maynard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-maynard/) > [When people ask what I write about, that's what I tell them: 'The drama of human relationships.' I'm not even close to running out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-maynard/when-people-ask-what-i-write-about-that-s-what-i-tell-them-the-drama/) [Joyce Maynard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-maynard/) > [“They seemed to arrive at some form of friendship. Maybe they were like a couple of weary soldiers who went through a war together,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-maynard/they-seemed-to-arrive-at-some-form-of-friendship-maybe-they-were-like/) [Joyce Maynard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-maynard/) > [In the event of an oxygen shortage on airplanes, mothers of young children are always reminded to put on their own oxygen mask first,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-maynard/in-the-event-of-an-oxygen-shortage-on-airplanes-mothers-of-young/) [Joyce Maynard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-maynard/) [Explore all 92 Joyce Maynard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-maynard/) ## More Chosen quotes > [The emerging church movement has come to believe that the ultimate context of the spiritual aspirations of a follower of Jesus Christ is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samir-selmanovic/the-emerging-church-movement-has-come-to-believe-that-the-ultimate/) [Samir Selmanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samir-selmanovic/) > [My Chosen Daughter, No one can define you without your permission. I want you to be so secure in who you are in Me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/god/my-chosen-daughter-no-one-can-define-you-without-your-permission-i/) God > [I would have let you shoot me without further ado! But it is not possible to hang the German Reichsmarschall! I cannot permit this.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-goring/i-would-have-let-you-shoot-me-without-further-ado-but-it-is-not/) [Hermann Goring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-goring/) > [People have a whole lot more choices than they've had in the past, and I have only earned the right to be considered -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-cole/people-have-a-whole-lot-more-choices-than-they-ve-had-in-the-past-and/) [Kenneth Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-cole/) > [You basically have a group of four spies who are chosen for a mission they feel for the fact of how competent they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-leblanc/you-basically-have-a-group-of-four-spies-who-are-chosen-for-a-mission/) [Matt LeBlanc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-leblanc/) > [ \[In science any model depends on a pre-chosen taxonomy\] a set of classifications into which we divide the enormous complexity of the real world...… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-e-boulding/in-science-any-model-depends-on-a-pre-chosen-taxonomy-a-set-of/) [Kenneth E. 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