Self Reliance Quotes

It doesn't do any good to hold the door open for someone if they don't have a way to walk through it. And if they do have a way to pass through it then you probably don't need to hold it open because they can open it for themselves.

Take advice, but not orders. Only give yourself orders. Abraham Lincoln once said, 'Since I will be no one's slave, I will be no one's master.'

Who is he that shall control me? Why may not I act and speak and write and think with entire freedom? What am I to the universe, or, the unvierse, what is it to me? Who hath forged the chains of wrong and right, of Opinion and Custom? And must I wear them?

What the superior man seeks is in himself; what the small man seeks is in others.

Nobody cares how tough your upbringing was. Nobody cares if you suffered some discrimination.

I pray that I may never meddle, interfere, dictate, give advice that is not wanted, or assist when my services are not needed. If I can help people, I'll do it by giving them a chance to help themselves; and if I can uplift or inspire, let it be by example, inference and suggestion, rather than by injunction and dictation. That is to say, I desire to be Radiant -- to Radiate Life!

The whole secret of existence is to have no fear. Never fear what will become of you, depend on no one. Only the moment you reject all help are you freed.

I learned also that the best way to keep out of trouble was by never complaining or asking for anything.

And so the reliance on Property, including the reliance on governments which protect it, is the want of self-reliance.

Our help does not come from Washington, but from ourselves.

Give a man a fish, feed home for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed for a lifetime.

Happiness is inside you, not with another person

...it is a base thing to look to others for your defense instead of depending upon yourself. That defense alone is effectual, sure, and durable which depends upon yourself and your own valor.

Frosting Freedom Is just frosting On somebody else's Cake-- And so must be Till we Learn how to Bake.

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.

Take me and cast me where you will; I shall still be possessor of the divinity within me, serene and content.

From this hour, freedom! Going where I like, my own master.

A man's social and spiritual discipline must answer to his corporeal. He must lean on a friend who has a hard breast, as he wouldlie on a hard bed. He must drink cold water for his only beverage. So he must not hear sweetened and colored words, but pure and refreshing truths. He must daily bathe in truth cold as spring water, not warmed by the sympathy of friends.

People who truly understand what is meant by self-reliance know they must live their lives by ethics rather than rules.

Do what you know you ought to do. Why should we ever go abroad, even across the way, to ask a neighbor's advice? There is a nearerneighbor within us incessantly telling us how we should behave. But we wait for the neighbor without to tell us of some false, easier way.

We want the education by which character is formed, strength of mind is increased, the intellect is expanded, and by which one can stand on one's own feet.

You have to do your own growing no matter how tall your grandfather was.

Let every man shovel out his own snow and the whole city will be passable.

People who are able to do their own thinking should not allow others to do it for them.

It is the individual's task to differentiate himself from all the others and stand on his own feet. All collective identities . . . interfere with the fulfillment of this task. Such collective identities are crutches for the lame, shields for the timid, beds for the lazy, nurseries for the irresponsible. . . .

Opportunities? I make opportunities.

Every man should stand for a force which is perfectly irresistible.

It takes nearly as much ability to know how to profit by good advice as to know how to act for one's self.

Never do anything for anyone who can just as well do it themself

When I go out of the house for a walk, uncertain as yet whither I will bend my steps, [I] submit myself to my instinct to decide for me.

Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.

My heart, my heart, be whole and free: Love is thine only enemy.

Do not follow where the path may lead.

We stand for self-reliance. We hope for foreign aid but cannot be dependent on it; we depend on our own efforts, on the creative power of the whole army and the entire people.

She soars on her own wings.

On what basis should our policy rest? It should rest on our own strength, and that means regeneration through one's own efforts. We are not alone; all the countries and people in the world opposed to imperialism are our friends. Nevertheless, we stress regeneration through our own efforts. Relying on the forces we ourselves organize, we can defeat all Chinese and foreign reactionaries.

Human happiness and human satisfaction must ultimately come from within oneself. It is wrong to expect some final satisfaction to come from money or from a computer.

Man is the artificer of his own happiness.

Opinions are the cheapest commodities on earth. Everyone has a flock of opinions ready to be wished upon anyone who will accept them. If you are influenced by "opinions" when you reach DECISIONS, you will not succeed in any undertaking.

The only person who is with us our entire life, is ourselves.

A man or woman is seldom happy unless he or she is sustaining him or herself and making a contribution to others.

I have observed that as long as one lives and bestirs himself, he can always find food and raiment, though it may not be of the choicest description.

In doubt a man of worth will trust to his own wisdom.

Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the government take care of him better take a closer look at the American Indian.

He who would be a man must therefore be a non-conformist.

The study of Indian economics is the study of the spinning wheel.

Our day of dependence, our long apprenticeship to the learning of other lands, draws to a close. The millions, that around us arerushing into life, cannot always be fed on the sere remains of foreign harvests.

You believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself.

The creed of our democracy is that liberty is acquired and kept by men and women who are strong and self-reliant, and possessed of such wisdom as God gives mankind - men and women who are just, and understanding, and generous to others - men and women who are capable of disciplining themselves. For they are the rulers and they must rule themselves.

Rely upon your own judgment; be true to your own conscience; follow the light that is within you; all outward lights are so many will-o'-the-wisps. There will be those who tell you that you are foolish; that your judgment is faulty; that your conscience is all awry, and that the light within you is darkness; but heed them not. If what they say is true, the sooner you, as a searcher of wisdom, find it out the better, and you can only make that discovery by bringing your powers to the test. Therefore, pursue your course bravely.

Muster your wits; stand in your own defence.

If you're sitting around waiting on somebody to save you, to fix you, to even help you, you are wasting your time because only you have the power to take responsibility to move your life forward.

Bad reviews I've gotten never diminished the number of people in my audience; good reviews have never added to the number of people in my audience; be your own critic.

Nature intends all men and women to be mental and spiritual giants, and does not intend that any one should follow the will of another.

You can never really live anyone else's life, not even your child's. The influence you exert is through your own life, and what you've become yourself.

If you are alone you belong entirely to yourself.

Shut up, I know what I'm doing!

Don't Let them fool you or even try to school you

For Attractive lips, speak words of kindness.For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.For beautiful hair, let a child run their fingers through it once a day.For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone.People, more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms.As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself and the other for helping others.

But this is altogether a mark of the most common sort of men, for it is in your power whenever you choose to retire into yourself.