I am what I am

English Phrase phr I am as I must be; I cannot be changed; I can't help the way I am. en 1907 M. A. Chaplin Chimes for the Times Farncombe & Son London Gospel Chimes: "I Am That (What) I Am" 22 https://books.google.com/books?id=PLFMAAAAYAAJ For Jacob's God and Peter's Saviour Utters above each circumstance—"I am what I am" en 1965 Martyn Lloyd-Jones Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Grand Rapids, Michigan 65, 66 https://books.google.com/books?id=ukta7iZ4Oc0C The Apostle said that he was 'not worthy to be called an apostle because he persecuted the Church of God', but he goes on to add: 'But by the grace of God I am what I am. What does it matter what I was? 'I am what I am.' en 1974 Melvin White Barriers to Health Care for Older Americans: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Health of the Elderly of the Special Committee on Aging, United States Senate U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. Part 10 Statement of Dr. Melvin White, Director, Rocky Mountain Gerontological Center at the University of Utah 1025 https://books.google.com/books?id=x_c6AQAAMAAJ Popeye said, "I am what I am, that is all that I am, I am Popeye the sailorman." I like that. Somehow, we have to incorporate this concept throughout our lives. I am important because I am what I am. en 1983 1981 Rosario Morales Cherríe Maraga, Gloria Anzaldúa This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color "I Am What I Am" Kitchen Table New York 12 https://books.google.com/books?id=0j2fBgAAQBAJ I am what I am and I am U.S. American Usage notes An alternative phrasing of I Am that I Am, God's explanation to Moses of who he is;Exodus, 3:14. also popularized as Popeye's explanation of why he behaves as he does, rendered in dialect as "I yam what I yam an' tha's all I yam", and variations thereof.E. C. Segar, Thimble Theatre.en The Daily Cartoonist I Yam What I Yam an' Tha's All I Yam – Popeye is 90 https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2019/01/17/i-yam-what-i-yam-an-thas-all-i-yam-popeye-hits-90/ January 17, 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20250116141901/https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2019/01/17/i-yam-what-i-yam-an-thas-all-i-yam-popeye-hits-90/ 16 January 2025. See also en it is what it is References Further reading Law of identity en tautophrases