404·Quotes

On display — unsourced

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”
Label

Attributed to Oscar Wilde

Earliest source: anonymous, 1999

Unsourced Not found in Wilde's works. The earliest known source is an anonymous Usenet post of December 1999, a century after his death.

Did Oscar Wilde say “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken”? No: the earliest known source is an anonymous post from 1999

No source connects it to Oscar Wilde, who died in 1900. The earliest exact match Quote Investigator found is an anonymous line at the end of a Usenet post in December 1999, already in quotation marks. In September 2000 it was printed, unattributed, in an advertising supplement for the Menards store chain. The credit to Wilde came later.

What it means

There is no point imitating someone else: every other identity is occupied, so the only one open to you is your own. It is a joke with a serious point about authenticity.

Where it comes from

Quote Investigator notes that the line is not in The Wit & Wisdom of Oscar Wilde, the large collection compiled by the quotation expert Ralph Keyes. Wilde did write often about identity and masks, but none of his remarks matches this one. The nearest earlier thought Quote Investigator found is Thomas Merton's, in a 1967 essay: there is “very little chance of my being anybody else.”

After the 1999 post the line was soon credited to a person named Gilbert Perreira, and it appeared in a Menards advertising supplement in September 2000 among other unattributed inspirational sayings. Wilde's name became attached as it spread online. As Quote Investigator concludes, the true originator is unknown.

Other versions you will see

  • “Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.”
    The 1999 Usenet form
  • “Be yourself. Everyone else is taken.”
    The Menards advertising supplement, September 2000

Provenance

  1. ReferenceQuote Origin: Be Yourself. Everyone Else Is Already Taken — Quote Investigator
  2. ReferenceOscar Wilde (listed under Misattributed) — Wikiquote

Last reviewed 6 October 2026

Questions

Did Oscar Wilde say “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken”?

No source shows that he did. The earliest known appearance is an anonymous Usenet post from December 1999.

Who really said it?

Nobody knows. It was anonymous when it first appeared, and a credit to one Gilbert Perreira followed soon after; Wilde's name was attached later.

What does it mean?

That imitating others is pointless, because the only person you can successfully be is yourself.

Where this one hangs

It belongs in the Being Yourself room, with the other checked lines on the same subject.

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