Injustice in the end produces independence.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
This gives force to the strong—that the multitude have no habit of self-reliance or original action.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed – else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) American Head of State, Military Leader
The beauty of independence, departure, actions that rely on themselves.
—Walt Whitman (1819–92) American Poet, Essayist, Journalist, American, Poet, Essayist, Journalist
The best place to find a helping hand is at the end of your own arm.
—Swedish Proverb
The moral progression of a people can scarcely begin till they are independent.
—James Martineau (1805–1900) English Philosopher, Religious Leader
Let me listen to myself and not to them.
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946) American Writer
You can’t get spoiled if you do your own ironing.
—Meryl Streep (b.1949) American Actor
No one can build his security upon the nobleness of another person.
—Willa Cather (1873–1947) American Novelist, Writer
Without free, self-respecting, and autonomous citizens there can be no free and independent nations. Without internal peace, that is, peace among citizens and between the citizens and the state, there can be no guarantee of external peace.
—Vaclav Havel (1936–2011) Czech Dramatist, Statesman
The true character of liberty is independence, maintained by force.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
Elevated levels of confidence are omnipresent among history’s greatest overachievers. Benjamin Franklin, one of the most famous men in the world even before he signed the Declaration of Independence once lamented about humility, “I cannot boast of much success in acquiring the reality of this virtue”.
—John Eliot (b.1971) American Psychologist, Academic
Do not depend on others.
—Buddhist Teaching
Freedom is the emancipation from the arbitrary rule of other men.
—Mortimer J. Adler (1902–2001) American Philosopher, Educator
The most unpardonable sin in society is independence of thought.
—Emma Goldman (1869–1940) Lithuanian-American Anarchist, Feminist
To safeguard democracy the people must have a keen sense of independence, self-respect, and their oneness.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
The first of earthly blessings, independence.
—Edward Gibbon (1737–94) English Historian, Politician
Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members. The virtue in most request is conformity. Self-reliance is its aversion. It loves not realities and creators, but names and customs.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Without moral and intellectual independence, there is no anchor for national independence.
—David Ben-Gurion (1886–1973) Russian-born Israeli Head of State
The experiences of camp life show that a man does have a choice of action. There were enough examples, often of a heroic nature, which proved that apathy could be overcome, irritability suppressed. Man can preserve a vestige of spiritual freedom, of independence of mind, even in such terrible conditions of psychic and physical stress. We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken away from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s way. The way in which a man accepts his fate and all the suffering it entails, the way in which he takes up his cross, gives him ample opportunity—even in the most difficult circumstances—to add a deeper meaning to life.
—Viktor Frankl (1905–97) Austrian Psychiatrist, Psychotherapist
Independence I have long considered as the grand blessing of life, the basis of every virtue; and independence I will ever secure by contracting my wants, though I were to live on a barren heath.
—Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–97) English Writer, Feminist
Independence? That’s middle class blasphemy. We are all dependent on one another, every soul of us on earth.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
Those who won our independence believed liberty to be the secret of happiness and courage to be the secret of liberty.
—Louis Brandeis (1856–1941) American Jurist
If we value independence, if we are disturbed by the growing conformity of knowledge, of values, of attitudes, which our present system induces, then we may wish to set up conditions of learning which make for uniqueness, for self-direction, and for self-initiated learning.
—Carl Rogers (1902–1987) American Psychologist
There is often as much independence in not being led as in not being driven.
—Tryon Edwards American Theologian
To be one’s own master is to be the slave of self.
—Natalie Clifford Barney (1876–1972) American Playwright, Poet, Novelist
Be your own palace, or the world is your jail.
—John Donne (1572–1631) English Poet, Cleric
The longer I am out of office, the more infallible I appear to myself.
—Henry Kissinger (b.1923) American Diplomat, Academician
The basic need of the creator is independence. The reasoning mind cannot work under any form of compulsion. It cannot be curbed, sacrificed or subordinated to any consideration whatsoever. It demands total independence in function and in motive.
—Ayn Rand (1905–82) Russian-born American Novelist, Philosopher
Do not destroy that immortal emblem of humanity, the Declaration of Independence.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State