"I intend to be me. Whatever that is"
About this Quote
A declaration of intent paired with radical uncertainty captures the paradox at the heart of selfhood. The sentence stakes a claim: I will live on my own terms. Yet it refuses to pretend that those terms are fully known in advance. The firmness of I intend meets the humility of whatever that is, turning authenticity from a fixed essence into an unfolding practice.
That posture suits David Geffen, whose career has been a study in reinvention. From championing singer-songwriters at Asylum to shaping pop and rock at Geffen and DGC, from shepherding films to co-founding DreamWorks, he moved through roles that the industry prefers to brand and contain. A mogul is expected to be a stable persona, a product. Geffen’s line sidesteps that trap. It suggests that personal truth is not a marketing identity but a moving target, discovered in the doing rather than announced as a slogan.
The wording also hints at the courage required to resist other people’s definitions. Public life invites projection: the ruthless dealmaker, the patron, the power broker, the gay icon, the art collector. Each label is both a lens and a cage. By saying whatever that is, he leaves room for contradiction and growth, including the public evolution of his sexuality and his philanthropy during the AIDS crisis. The sentence implicitly rejects the demand for a tidy narrative and acknowledges the risk of disappointing expectations, even one’s own.
There is also a creative ethic embedded here. Artists and entrepreneurs often do not know what they are making until they try to make it. Selfhood works the same way. Intention matters, but discovery cannot be scheduled. Geffen’s line gives permission to change course without losing integrity. It proposes that being oneself is less about arriving at a final, polished identity than about staying faithful to an inner momentum, even as its direction keeps surprising you.
That posture suits David Geffen, whose career has been a study in reinvention. From championing singer-songwriters at Asylum to shaping pop and rock at Geffen and DGC, from shepherding films to co-founding DreamWorks, he moved through roles that the industry prefers to brand and contain. A mogul is expected to be a stable persona, a product. Geffen’s line sidesteps that trap. It suggests that personal truth is not a marketing identity but a moving target, discovered in the doing rather than announced as a slogan.
The wording also hints at the courage required to resist other people’s definitions. Public life invites projection: the ruthless dealmaker, the patron, the power broker, the gay icon, the art collector. Each label is both a lens and a cage. By saying whatever that is, he leaves room for contradiction and growth, including the public evolution of his sexuality and his philanthropy during the AIDS crisis. The sentence implicitly rejects the demand for a tidy narrative and acknowledges the risk of disappointing expectations, even one’s own.
There is also a creative ethic embedded here. Artists and entrepreneurs often do not know what they are making until they try to make it. Selfhood works the same way. Intention matters, but discovery cannot be scheduled. Geffen’s line gives permission to change course without losing integrity. It proposes that being oneself is less about arriving at a final, polished identity than about staying faithful to an inner momentum, even as its direction keeps surprising you.
Quote Details
| Topic | Self-Improvement |
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