He who has no opinion of his own, but depends upon the opinion and taste of others, is a slave.
—Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (1724–1803) German Poet
Happiness depends upon ourselves.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
Help yourself, and Heaven will help you.
—Jean de La Fontaine (1621–95) French Poet, Short Story Writer
The Proverb warns that “You should not bite that hand that feeds you”. But maybe you should, if it prevents you from feeding yourself.
—Thomas Szasz (1920–2012) Hungarian-American Psychiatrist, Psychoanalyst
No one’s gonna drag you up to get into the light where you belong.
—Unknown
The man who makes everything that leads to happiness depend upon himself, and not upon other men, has adopted the very best plan for living happily. This is the man of moderation, the man of manly character and of wisdom.
—Plato (428 BCE–347 BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Mathematician, Educator
Up to a point a man’s life is shaped by environment, heredity, and the movements and changes in the world around him. Then there comes a time when it lies within his grasp to shape the clay of his life into the sort of thing he wishes to be. Only the weak blame parents, their race, their times, lack of good fortune, or the quirks of fate. Everyone has it within his power to say, ‘This I am today; that I will be tomorrow.’ The wish, however, must be implemented by deeds.
—Louis L’Amour (1908–88) American Novelist, Short-story Writer
The winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.
—Edward Gibbon (1737–94) English Historian, Politician
Each man must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong, which course is patriotic and which isn’t. You cannot shirk this and be a man. To decide against your conviction is to be an unqualified and inexcusable traitor, both to yourself and to your country, let men label you as they may.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
Let me listen to me and not to them.
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946) American Writer
I have ever held it a maxim, never to do through another what it was possible for me to do myself.
—Montesquieu (1689–1755) French Political Philosopher, Jurist
How much time he gains who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks, but only at what he does himself, to make it just and holy.
—Marcus Aurelius (121–180) Emperor of Rome, Stoic Philosopher
The best bet is to bet on yourself.
—Arnold Glasow (1905–98) American Businessman
Things alter for the worse spontaneously, if they be not altered for the better designedly.
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English Philosopher
Boyhood is a most complex and incomprehensible thing. Even when one has been through it, one does not understand what it was. A man can never quite understand a boy, even when he has been the boy.
—G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) English Journalist, Novelist, Essayist, Poet
No one can cheat you out of ultimate success but yourself.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
The human mind, in proportion as it is deprived of external resources, sedulously labors to find within itself the means of happiness, learns to rely with confidence on its own exertions, and gains with greater certainty the power of being happy.
—Johann Georg Ritter von Zimmermann (1728–1795) Swiss Philosophical Writer, Naturalist, Physician
No one to blame! That was why most people led lives they hated, with people they hated. How wonderful to have someone to blame! How wonderful to live with one’s nemesis! You may be miserable, but you feel forever in the right. You may be fragmented, but you feel absolved of all the blame for it. Take your life in your own hands, and what happens? A terrible thing: no one to blame.
—Erica Jong (b.1942) American Novelist, Feminist
There is no dependence that can be sure but a dependence upon one’s self.
—John Gay (1685–1732) English Poet, Dramatist
Choice of attention – to pay attention to this and ignore that – is to the inner life what choice of action is to the outer. In both cases, a man is responsible for his choice and must accept the consequences, whatever they may be.
—W. H. Auden (1907–73) British-born American Poet, Dramatist
Every man is the architect of his own future.
—Anonymous
God loves to help him who strives to help himself.
—Aeschylus (525–456 BCE) Greek Playwright
You are the handicap you must face. You are the one who must choose your place.
—James Lane Allen (1849–1925) American Novelist, Short Story Writer
Time and I against any two.
—Spanish Proverb
Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others.
—Buddhist Teaching
Great is the strength of an individual soul, true to its high trust; mighty is it, even to the redemption of a world.
—Lydia Maria Child (1802–80) American Abolitionist, Writer
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
The strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone.
—Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906) Norwegian Playwright
It is vain to ask of the gods what man is capable of supplying for himself.
—Epicurus (c.341–270 BCE) Greek Philosopher