Quotes About Self-reliance

He was a mean man, it's true, but he got ahead. A man gets on by working harder than the rest—that's what he used to say—and if he doesn't get anywhere, he hasn't a soul to blame but himself.

Why doesn't Prin go and get her own goddamn blistering bloody shitty jelly doughnuts?

Too bad to deprive them, but if a person doesn't look after herself in this world, no one else is likely to.

And yet, I felt a surge of exhilaration just thinking about that night. Not just because I'd met the prince and fallen in love and started on my course toward happiness ever after, but because I'd made something happen. I'd done something everybody had told me I couldn't. I'd changed my life all by myself. Having a fairy godmother would have ruined everything.

There's no such thing as society. There are individual men and women, and there are families. And no government can do anything except through people, and people must look to themselves first.

I owe nothing to Women's Lib.

When the state does everything for you, it will soon take everything from you.

I can't be a rose in any man's lapel.

I have a natural tendency to go away when told to do so. Do you really want me to?

She would not be robbed of her ability to support herself, to do good work in the world, justly, compassionately.

It was one thing not to want a husband, I realized; it was quite another not to need one for the roof over your head, for your meat and bread, for the shoes on your feet and the coat on your back.

But how could they be tormenters if Branza refused to be tormented by them?

Don't blindly follow any leader.

My own experiences as a woman tell me it's very possible to be mistaken for monstrous when one is only doing as men do: providing for and defending oneself.

I would as soon put a girl alone into a closet to meditate as give her only the society of her needle.

I was a little doubtful about the propriety of going to the Mammoth Cave without a gentleman escort, but if two ladies travel alone they must have the courage of men.

Needless help is an actual hindrance to the development of natural forces.

Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed.

Got a lot to do this morning." "Like driving around St. Dennis filling bird feeders?" "Just these. Everyone else can fill their own.

For as much as you can, build the past and the future that you can carry yourself.

Don't wait until you find someone. You are someone.

The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the economy, or the president. You realize that you control your own destiny. Albert Ellis

To wait for someone else, or to expect someone else to make my life richer, or fuller, or more satisfying, puts me in a constant state of suspension. — Kathleen Tierney Andrews, author

Speaking of taking responsibility, a quick reminder about an essential universal principle: You are 100 percent responsible for your life. Always and in all ways. It's not your parents. It's not the economy. It's not your husband or your wife or your family. It's not your boss. It's not the schools you went to. It's not the government or society or institutions or your age. You are responsible for what you believe, how you feel, and how you behave.