Quotes About Independence

After living with a flurry of stepfathers, American's mother finally settled on a man who thought he was a woman. One day when American was sixteen, he came home from school to every kid's nightmare: an empty house. The only things left were his bed, his books, his clothes, and his Commodore 64 computer. His mother had sold the home to pay for two plane tickets and the fee for her boyfriend's sex change operation. American packed up his computer. He was on his own.

If you must have a female role model, may I recommend Katherine Hepburn or Angelina Jolie: lots of pants, lots of attitude, no jewelry.

I am a drifter, and as lonely as that can be, it is also remarkably freeing. I will never define myself in terms of anyone else. I will never feel the pressure of peers or the burden of parental expectation. I can view everyone as pieces of a whole, and focus on the whole, not the pieces. I have learned to observe, far better than most people observe. I am not blinded by the past or motivated by the future. I focus on the present because that is where I am destined to live.

I want my own books to have their own shelves, you said, and that's how I knew it would be okay to live together.

Putting up with the fear of being with the wrong person because you can't deal with the fear of being alone.

Freedom is also about what you will allow yourself to do.

I had gotten so used to being alone, but never entirely used to it. Never used to it enough to stop wanting the alternative.

Let me give you some free advice. She's a runner for sure- she'll run away every time without saying a word. But here's the thing- you are not a runner. And deep down, I don't think Norah wants to run, either. She's just feels like she has to. Partly because she's a tiresome spoiled-brat smartass with no fashion sense. And partly because she's a fucking human being.

I had made it somewhere special, and I'd gotten there all on my own. Nobody had given it to me. Nobody had told me to do it. I'd climbed and climbed and climbed, and this was my reward. To watch over the world, and to be alone with myself. That, I found, was what I needed.

healthy, adj. There are times when I'm alone that I think, This is it. This is actually the natural state. All I need are my thoughts and my small acts of creation and my ability to go or do whatever I want to go or do. I am myself, and that is the point. Pairing is a social construction. It is by no means necessary for everyone to do it. Maybe I'm better like this. Maybe I could live my life in my own world, and then simply leave it when it's time to go.

It's like you're a character in this book that everyone around you is writing, and suddenly you have to say, 'I'm sorry, but this role isn't right for me'. And you have to start writing your own life and doing your own thing.

Even if neither of us got what we wanted, we found freedom in the third choices.

People are always separable.

autonomy , n . I want my books to have their own shelves, you said, and that's how I knew it would be okay to live together.

I am a drifter, and as lonely as that can be, it is also remarkably freeing. I will never define myself in terms of anyone else.

The fewer connections you have to the world, the easier it is to leave.

Forget about the ones who set you up to see you fall.

detachment, n. Even when I detach, I care. You can be separate from a thing and still care about it.

You make it a production. Slam doors. Knock things over. Scream. But I just leave. Even if I'm still standing there, I leave. I am refusing you. I am denying you. I am an adjective that is quickly turning into a noun.

She has been left to her own devices, and those are broken.

The unwarranted devotion. Putting up with the fear of being with the wrong person because you can't deal with the fear of being alone.

So there I was, hovering above everything I knew. I had made it somewhere special, and I'd gotten there all on my own. Nobody had given it to me. Nobody had told me to do it. I'd climbed and climbed and climbed, and this was my reward. To watch over the world, and to be alone with myself. That, I found, was what I needed.

He never wears a watch (his own rebellion against time, against watching).

It's just nice to see you out from his shadow. Because things don't grow in the shadows, you know? So it was frustrating to see you standing there...and really cool to see you step out of it. I don't know who this new guy is, but make sure when you're with him, you're not standing in his shadow. Stand where everyone can see you.