To be what they want
Is to win a battle
To be who you are
Is to win a war

shannon-jeffery

To Be(20w)

Jun 6, 2026

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removed.-afh9

bring out the heavy artillery ...... oh boy...

sptl2

antonio

silas

Lot of courage to claim who you are. Thanks for writing this poem.

poetrylover17

sabrina-cotto

joe-adomavicia

courtney-pruitt

We were DEF on the same brainwave today! UGhgfjgdfgk its a constant battle between the pressure to be who they want and the need to be who I want!

daniel-wetter

removed.l-7

Sorry, the logical way to put this is:
To become what they want
is to lose a battle;
To be who you are
is to win a war.

Hey, but what the fuck do I know about writing aphorisms?

musfiq-us-shaleheen

eliotyork

carolyn-bayne

christopher-k-bayliss

I think that to be what you want to be is part of that battle to be who you are, so I think that your analogy is the correct one. Surly if you are not being what you want to be then you are not being who you are? Great words ;-)

mia-barrat

Isn't it more "to be what they want is to LOSE a battle" ? Anyway, beautiful thought. The end is breathtaking.

paula-lee

What can I say that hasn't already been said except great job!

deborah-brooks-langford

wesparham

Concise, pithy and powerful food for thought.  A pleasure to read.

poetic-t

That's really good, powerful is so few words..

Silhouette

removed.-lid5

ladi-oyediran

bridgid-p-newman-henson

nithya-venkat

patricia-waldron

e-patrick-heeney

pauline-mansfield

I love this poem.  It says so much.  In battle (personal or otherwise) we often must compromise - not a total loss...  But when we stand our ground on principle we always win because we are being totally true to who we are - no matter the outcome.