44 Keep It Real Quotes to Honor Your Perfect Imperfect Self

Living life with no mask, with complete authenticity, and with our hearts on our sleeves can be daunting. However, those around us are crying out for authentic connection, and you can help them by sharing your story. Get inspired to do just that by reading the 44 quotes below about keeping it real.

We live in a society based on the perception of perfection. Social media has made us all feel inferior and as though everyone else is living the high life while we sit alone in our pajamas eating takeaways.

If we were more honest with one another, we would realize that everyone has problems. Beyond that, instead of feeling jealous, we would praise one another's successes. Keep it real by reading these 44 quotes.

Tyler Knott Gregson’s quote: "I would rather wear honest tears than the most beautiful and elaborately faked smile." | Image: AmoDays

Wearing Your Heart on Your Sleeve Quotes

"I let people see the cracks in my life. We can't be phony. We've got to keep it real." — Charles R. Swindoll

"I try to keep it real. I don't have time to worry about what I'm projecting to the world. I'm just busy being myself." — Demi Lovato

"Share your weaknesses. Share your hard moments. Share your real side. It'll either scare away every fake person in your life, or it will inspire them to finally let go of that mirage called 'perfection,' which will open the doors to the most important relationships you'll ever be a part of." — Dan Pearce

"I would rather wear honest tears than the most beautiful and elaborately faked smile." — Tyler Knott Gregson

Stoney Rose’s quote: "Keep it real, even if they don't want to hear the truth!" | Image: AmoDays

"It's okay to love something a little too much as long as it's real to you." ― Gerard Way

"The sick constriction of the heart was undeniable; there was a melancholy truth in the fact that it was suffering which made me, I thought, at last real to myself." ― Alfred Hayes

"A lot of people play single to work some angle. I'm always about keeping it real. If that's how I'm living, that's how I'm living." ― Ice T

The Value of Truth

"Dispassionate objectivity is itself a passion for the real and for the truth." — Abraham Maslow

"Eloquence. We need both what is pleasing and what is real, but that which pleases must itself be drawn from the true." ― Blaise Pascal

Stoney Rose’s quote: "Keep it real, even if they don't want to hear the truth!" | Image: AmoDays

"Everybody has a Big Momma: the mother or the grandmother who tells it like it is, keeps it real with them, isn't afraid to tell you the truth about yourself." — Martin Lawrence

"I feel a responsibility to myself and my parents and the people whose love has gotten me this far—people who were in my life before fame. That's where I get my sense of self. It's deadly for anyone to take on that role of a deity; it's not sustainable. I've got tons of flaws. Call my mother—she'll tell you! She keeps it real. Sometimes you don't want to hear the truth; she'll tell it to you out of love." — Lupita Nyong'o

"'Keep it 100' means keeping it 100 percent real. It comes from the expression ... 'keeping it real,' which means you are being completely honest, and 100 percent real means you are really being honest, which is kind of a contradiction of sorts. You're either being honest, or you're not." — Larry Wilmore

"Keep it real, even if they don't want to hear the truth!" ― Stoney Rose

Mary Anne Radmacher’s quote: "We tell the real truth of our life by the stories we repeatedly tell." | Image: AmoDays

"Some things are only real because they represent what we think. When we learn the truth and think about it, the old reality is no longer real to us and loses its hold on us. The truth sets us free." — C. Terry Warner

"Keep it real by being straightforward. Don't pull no punches on people. It's better to tell somebody than just lollygag around, letting them think they're living their life the right way. Because some people don't know what the [expletive] they're doing, they don't know if they're living the right way or making the right decisions. Some people don't know that." — J. B. Smoove

"We tell the real truth of our life by the stories we repeatedly tell." — Mary Anne Radmacher

"Flattery does not encourage the perfect flow of love in the vein of your relationship. Be genuine and speak out what you feel for each other without hiding the painful truth." — Michael Bassey Johnson

Authenticity and Its Inherent Power

"Real is hard to find and sometimes harder to differentiate. Fakes is acceptable by many because its takes a lot of strength and courage to be real and more to stay real." — Annelise Lords

Jonathan Harnisch’s quote: "Forget about being impressive and commit to being real. Because being real is impressive!" | Image: AmoDays

"Forget about being impressive and commit to being real. Because being real is impressive!" — Jonathan Harnisch

"I have a whole lot of fun in trying to serve others and just keeping it funky, trying to keep it real, trying to ensure that we are able to be ourselves and get beyond these deodorized discourses and deodorized spaces that put on masks." — Cornel West

"So much possibility lives within the beauty of your authenticity. Be real." — Scott Stabile

"I am just trying to keep it real." — Jessie Ware

"I was transformed the day my ego shattered, and all the superficial, material things that mattered to me before suddenly ceased to matter." — Suzy Kassem

Trick Daddy’s quote: "People say keeping it real is a hard thing to do. Keeping it real is easy. Being fake and being soft is hard to do." | Image: AmoDays

"I keeps it real, nothing. Like you actors do." — Wiz Khalifa

"The easiest way to gain someone's trust is to deserve it. This should be pretty easy, assuming you're just being you and being real. Minimal effort too." — Ashly Lorenzana

"It gets better. It seems hard, you know; I think being different is always going to be a tough climb. There are always gonna be people that are scared of it. But at the end of the day, you give those bullies, those people, that are so ignorant, if you give them the power to affect you, you're letting them win. And they don't deserve that. What you're doing by being yourself is you're keeping it real, and you're being really brave." — Adam Lambert

"People say keeping it real is a hard thing to do. Keeping it real is easy. Being fake and being soft is hard to do." — Trick Daddy

Nikki Rowe’s quote: "If you can be anything, be real." | Image: AmoDays

"You shouldn't have to pretend to be as excited as I am just to make me happy. If it comes to that, you shouldn't have to pretend to be anything around me. Friends should be real with each other." ― J.M. Richards

"Authenticity is the language of visionaries." ― Andrena Sawyer

"It takes courage to become authentic. So many talk about the light, but not enough speak the truth about the struggles it takes to get there and the tools to overcome it all." ― Nikki Rowe

"If you can be anything, be real." — Nikki Rowe

Quotes That Keep It Real

"Catchphrases and cliches don't make you real." ― Carlos Wallace

Pema Chodron’s quote: "Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity." | Image: AmoDays

"What we have is often more important than what we will have simply because what we have is real!" ― Mehmet Murat Ildan

"I just kind of take every day at a time. I just know that I don't do anything that I don't want to do; I enjoy everything that I do, and that's what you have to do to keep it good and keep it real." ― Chris Jericho

"Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity." — Pema Chodron

"Wake up to realities! Real life is all about real things!" ― Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

Carlos Wallace’s quote: "Catchphrases and cliches don't make you real." | Image: AmoDays

"I feel it's most important to keep it real and enjoy each moment, you know, take advantage of every opportunity life provides, because who knows what tomorrow may bring." ― C. R. Johnson

"When you ask a person to jump, his attention is mostly directed toward the act of jumping, and the mask falls so that the real person appears." — Philippe Halsman

"A lot of times, when you keep it real with somebody, you can't expect them to keep it real with you. In this industry, people just want to be famous, and they forget how to keep it real, and they forget to give credit to the people who helped them get to where they at." ― Gucci Mane

"Acting is never done. We're trying to keep it real and make sure that you're entertained and it seems unrehearsed." — Tom Sizemore

"What is real is beyond all reach." ― Julian Green

Philippe Halsman's quote: "When you ask a person to jump, his attention is mostly directed toward the act of jumping, and the mask falls so that the real person appears." | Image: AmoDays

Practicing authenticity and keeping it real in a society covered in a facade of excellence is a brave act. However, we should still be wary of with whom we share our stories and imperfections. Not everyone has our best interests at heart.

To do this, we need to learn to discern between the potential people we could connect with authentically and those with whom we could not form any real bond or trust. To understand the subtle yet potent art of discernment, read these 51 quotes.