"Be yourself. The world worships the original"
About this Quote
The subtext is especially pointed coming from Ingrid Bergman, whose career was built on a paradox: she became iconic for seeming unmanufactured. In classical Hollywood, “originality” was often carefully engineered, and Bergman’s particular brand of naturalness (less lacquer, more presence) read as a rebellion against studio-polished femininity. That makes “worship” do double duty. It flatters the individual, sure, but it also needles the crowd: the public claims to crave truth while behaving like a congregation, turning a person into a symbol and then demanding they keep performing it.
There’s a shadow version of the line, too, shaped by Bergman’s scandal-era exile after her affair with Roberto Rossellini. “Be yourself” can cost you; the world that “worships” originality also punishes women for it when originality looks like disobedience. The quote works because it’s both pep talk and warning: originality is magnetic, but it’s never neutral.
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Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Bergman, Ingrid. (2026, January 15). Be yourself. The world worships the original. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/be-yourself-the-world-worships-the-original-31586/
Chicago Style
Bergman, Ingrid. "Be yourself. The world worships the original." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/be-yourself-the-world-worships-the-original-31586/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Be yourself. The world worships the original." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/be-yourself-the-world-worships-the-original-31586/. Accessed 6 Feb. 2026.








