--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: She had for so many years been trying to…" description: "\"She had for so many years been trying to be like other people, that she was now like nothing in heaven or earth.\" — Mary Webb" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b38/mary-webb-17175_conformity_she-had-for-so-many-years-been-trying-to_2592259.png" --- # She had for so many years been trying to be like other… ![“She had for so many years been trying to be like other people, that she was now like nothing in heaven or earth.” quote by Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b38/mary-webb-17175_conformity_she-had-for-so-many-years-been-trying-to_2592259.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b38/mary-webb-17175_conformity_she-had-for-so-many-years-been-trying-to_2592259.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b38/mary-webb-17175_conformity_she-had-for-so-many-years-been-trying-to_2592259.png) > “She had for so many years been trying to be like other people, that she was now like nothing in heaven or earth.” [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Attempting to mimic others leads to loss of personal identity, leaving one feeling alienated. **In simple terms:** Imitation erodes self‑identity. Key Takeaway Cultivate authentic individuality. Themes identity conformity alienation self‑discovery social pressure Mood melancholic reflective Type literary psychological When to use this quote - personal branding - creative expression - therapy sessions Key Concepts psychology existentialism literary criticism Questions to Reflect On - Why do we feel pressure to conform? - What steps can restore personal uniqueness? A Different Perspective Conformity can be socially rewarding. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Conformity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conformity/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Heaven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heaven/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) ## Related quotes > [Live life like there's heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khat-leen/live-life-like-there-s-heaven-on-earth/) [Khat Leen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khat-leen/) > [“No, it's not fair, but what makes earth feel like Hell is our expectation that it should feel like Heaven. Earth is earth. Dead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/no-it-s-not-fair-but-what-makes-earth-feel-like-hell-is-our-3/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [Sing like there's nobody listening, And live like it's heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-watson-purkey/sing-like-there-s-nobody-listening-and-live-like-it-s-heaven-on-earth/) [William Watson Purkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-watson-purkey/) > [Im not trying to be like Peyton; Im trying to do it the way I know how.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eli-manning/im-not-trying-to-be-like-peyton-im-trying-to-do-it-the-way-i-know-how/) [Eli Manning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eli-manning/) > [“I'm trying like hell to leave a footprint, carbon or otherwise.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-a-bookout/i-m-trying-like-hell-to-leave-a-footprint-carbon-or-otherwise/) [M.A. Bookout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-a-bookout/) > [Got nothing to do with trying. You like someone, or you don't. If you're 'trying', you don't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/got-nothing-to-do-with-trying-you-like-someone-or-you-don-t-if-you-re/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [Filmmaking is like any kind of art form. You have to try to figure it out, and you're going to do that by trying.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-winding-refn/filmmaking-is-like-any-kind-of-art-form-you-have-to-try-to-figure-it-2/) [Nicolas Winding Refn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-winding-refn/) > [A young boy shouldn't be given up for hopeless just because he's lazy, surly, and good for nothing. Don't be discouraged by those things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gracie-allen/a-young-boy-shouldn-t-be-given-up-for-hopeless-just-because-he-s-lazy/) [Gracie Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gracie-allen/) > [I'm trying to have my own thing, and I don't know if it's even possible. I didn't realize so many people actually think I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-marie-presley/i-m-trying-to-have-my-own-thing-and-i-don-t-know-if-it-s-even/) [Lisa Marie Presley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-marie-presley/) > [I use to laugh when I heard people say there trying to find themselves. Like you should know you the best. But I've learned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/livefree2dream44/i-use-to-laugh-when-i-heard-people-say-there-trying-to-find/) Livefree2dream44 > [Im done trying. I like you but I'm not gonna keep going out of my way to try and see you. If you want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/im-done-trying-i-like-you-but-i-m-not-gonna-keep-going-out-of-my-way/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I am the woman in process, I'm just trying like everybody else. I try to take every conflict, every experience and learn from it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley/i-am-the-woman-in-process-i-m-just-trying-like-everybody-else-i-try/) [Shirley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley/) > [I'm not trying to be like everybody else. This is what's in my heart. It's me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-oubre-jr/i-m-not-trying-to-be-like-everybody-else-this-is-what-s-in-my-heart/) [Kelly Oubre, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-oubre-jr/) > [“I am. Trying, I'm trying it. But he means something else. I'm trying it like, you find a coin on the table and you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-handler/i-am-trying-i-m-trying-it-but-he-means-something-else-i-m-trying-it/) [Daniel Handler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-handler/) > [I'm trying to be perfect. Ah wait! NO! I'm trying to be like how my girl wants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yash-tiwari/i-m-trying-to-be-perfect-ah-wait-no-i-m-trying-to-be-like-how-my-girl/) Yash Tiwari ## More by Mary Webb > [There is usually no dreamer so unworldly as the anthologist. He wanders in a vast garden, lost in wonder, unable to decide often between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/there-is-usually-no-dreamer-so-unworldly-as-the-anthologist-he/) [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) > [There is surely no more unselfish person than the anthologist. For while all we others are striving to ensure our own immortality with eagerness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/there-is-surely-no-more-unselfish-person-than-the-anthologist-for/) [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) > [But when you dwell in a house you mislike, you will look out of a window a deal more than those that are content…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/but-when-you-dwell-in-a-house-you-mislike-you-will-look-out-of-a/) [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) > [Saddle your dreams before you ride em.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/saddle-your-dreams-before-you-ride-em/) [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) > [For the world is founded and built up on death, and the reality of death is neither to be questioned nor feared. Death is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/for-the-world-is-founded-and-built-up-on-death-and-the-reality-of/) [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) > [“I'd laboured over it a long while, and labour brings a thing near the heart's core.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/i-d-laboured-over-it-a-long-while-and-labour-brings-a-thing-near-the/) [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) > [It made me gladsome to be getting some education, it being like a big window opening.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/it-made-me-gladsome-to-be-getting-some-education-it-being-like-a-big/) [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) > [The more anybody wants a thing, the more they do think others want it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/the-more-anybody-wants-a-thing-the-more-they-do-think-others-want-it/) [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) > [ “\[...\]we are all as full of echoes as a rocky wood--echoes of the past, reflex echoes of the future, and echoes of the soil… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/we-are-all-as-full-of-echoes-as-a-rocky-wood-echoes-of-the-past/) [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) > [Autumn is full of leave-taking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/autumn-is-full-of-leave-taking/) [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) > [“I've thought since that when folk grumble about this and that and be not happy, it is not the fault of creation, that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/i-ve-thought-since-that-when-folk-grumble-about-this-and-that-and-be/) [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) > [Green is the fresh emblem of well founded hopes. In blue the spirit can wander, but in green it can rest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/green-is-the-fresh-emblem-of-well-founded-hopes-in-blue-the-spirit/) [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) > [“He was ever a strong man, which is almost the same, times, as to say a man with little time for kindness. For if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/he-was-ever-a-strong-man-which-is-almost-the-same-times-as-to-say-a/) [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) > [The love of nature is a passion for those in whom it once lodges. It can never be quenched. It cannot change. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/the-love-of-nature-is-a-passion-for-those-in-whom-it-once-lodges-it/) [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) > [“You wasn't made like watch-dogs and house-cats and cows. You was made a fox, and you be a fox, and its queer-like to me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/you-wasn-t-made-like-watch-dogs-and-house-cats-and-cows-you-was-made/) [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) [Explore all 35 Mary Webb quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) ## More Conformity quotes > [“So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned by a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-supertramp-chris-mccandless/so-many-people-live-within-unhappy-circumstances-and-yet-will-not/) Alexander Supertramp Chris McCandless > [“All to often, on the long road up, young leaders become servants of what is rather than shapers of what might be.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/all-to-often-on-the-long-road-up-young-leaders-become-servants-of/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) > [The Chains of conformity click in tiresomely monotonous unison.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-sweet/the-chains-of-conformity-click-in-tiresomely-monotonous-unison/) [Leonard Sweet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-sweet/) > [No shepherd and one herd! Everybody wants the same, everybody is the same: whoever feels different goes voluntarily into a madhouse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/no-shepherd-and-one-herd-everybody-wants-the-same-everybody-is-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [A self is a frightening thing to waste, it's the lens through which one's whole life is viewed, and few people are willing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ackerman/a-self-is-a-frightening-thing-to-waste-it-s-the-lens-through-which/) [Diane Ackerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-ackerman/) > [Ideation is not a synonym for innovation, conformity is not its simple antonym, and innovation is not the automatic consequence of "creative thinking.".](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-levitt/ideation-is-not-a-synonym-for-innovation-conformity-is-not-its-simple/) [Theodore Levitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-levitt/) > [“I lead with the knowingness that my reality conforms to my wishes and desires instantly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-s-baker/i-lead-with-the-knowingness-that-my-reality-conforms-to-my-wishes-and/) [Robin S. Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-s-baker/) > [Alas, everything that men say to one another is alike; the ideas they exchange are almost always the same, in their conversation. But inside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/alas-everything-that-men-say-to-one-another-is-alike-the-ideas-they/) [Alfred de Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/) > [The search for truth is a cooperative, unending endeavor. We can, and should, engage in it to the extent we can and encourage others…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-search-for-truth-is-a-cooperative-unending-endeavor-we-can-and/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Seeds have the power to preserve species, to enhance cultural as well as genetic diversity, to counter economic monopoly and to check the advance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/seeds-have-the-power-to-preserve-species-to-enhance-cultural-as-well/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [“Brontë was attempting to depict a character that adheres to the unchanging principles of her faith though she refused conformity to the particular practices…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-swallow-prior/bront-was-attempting-to-depict-a-character-that-adheres-to-the/) [Karen Swallow Prior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-swallow-prior/) > [Officers conditioned to conformity in peacetime cannot be expected to behave boldly and flexibly in combat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-yingling/officers-conditioned-to-conformity-in-peacetime-cannot-be-expected-to/) Paul Yingling > [The more civilized a nation, the more conformed its population, until that civilization's last age arrives, when multiplicity wages war with conformity. The former…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-erikson/the-more-civilized-a-nation-the-more-conformed-its-population-until/) [Steven Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-erikson/) > [Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members. The virtue in most request is conformity. Self-reliance is its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/society-everywhere-is-in-conspiracy-against-the-manhood-of-every-one/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Deaths, births, and marriages, considering how much they are separately dependent on the freedom of the human will, should seem to be subject to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/deaths-births-and-marriages-considering-how-much-they-are-separately/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) [Browse all 937 Conformity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conformity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "She had for so many years been trying to be like other people, that she was now like nothing in heaven or earth.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mary Webb" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/she-had-for-so-many-years-been-trying-to-be-like-other-people-that/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Conformity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/she-had-for-so-many-years-been-trying-to-be-like-other-people-that/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b38/mary-webb-17175_conformity_she-had-for-so-many-years-been-trying-to_2592259.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b38/mary-webb-17175_conformity_she-had-for-so-many-years-been-trying-to_2592259.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b38/mary-webb-17175_conformity_she-had-for-so-many-years-been-trying-to_2592259.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“She had for so many years been trying to be like other people, that she was now like nothing in heaven or…” — Mary Webb", "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": "Mary Webb", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "She had for so many years...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/she-had-for-so-many-years-been-trying-to-be-like-other-people-that/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/she-had-for-so-many-years-been-trying-to-be-like-other-people-that/#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 } } ] } ```