Quotes About Independence

We think that if we surround ourselves with people, we can't be alone, when the reality is that we're always alone.

Your staying or leaving doesn't impact the premise of your demand, which seems to be that I have no control over myself. That's wrong. I decide who destroys me, not you, Mark Compton.

All I want is the here and now, this piece of time. And please save the pillow talk for someone who wants it. Contrary to what you seem to think, I'm no delicate rose

I'm not going away, Amy. You do know that, don't you?" … "I don't need a protector, Liam." "I see things differently." My spine locks into a steel bar. "I'm not your ---" "Not yet. But I want you to be.

submission would be, because I'd really earned it." "Oh, please. You have so many rules, your rules have rules. Any woman who dared to date you would need an encyclopedia-sized book to keep up.

True confidence means you're prepared to work hard enough and smart enough to make your own thunder. You don't need someone else's.

I'm going to have to grow my own teeth.

Obey, obey, obey, then do what you want.

In every message she spoke of birds, of flight, of the world away. Even back then, she flew against what was presented to her. I wanted to cling to her wings and soar, no matter how intimidated I was.

Traveling is like flirting with life. It's like saying, 'I would stay and love you, but I have to go; this is my station.

The sense of freedom amazed her. She hadn't known the weight of her prison until she felt this freedom.

You [meaning mothers] said good-bye a little every day -- from the minute they left your body until they left your home.

She didn't call him Prince or Royal Highness. She called him Rodrigo. And while she very clearly wanted him, she wanted him only for what he brought to her as a man. It felt strange to simply be a man.

Books made me believe that smart girls who didn't necessarily fit in with the popular crowd could be the ones to solve mysteries, rescue people in distress, ferret out international criminals, fly spaceships to distant planets, take up arms and fight battles. Books showed me that not all fathers understand their daughters or even seek to, but that people can turn out okay despite that. Books made me feel beautiful when I wasn't. Capable when I couldn't be.

Eventually you have to stop letting people define you and start defining yourself. It's a lesson I'm both teaching and learning.

Other people's judgment doesn't have any power unless you offer yourself up for trial, so don't.

you're going to have to face this. You can't let other people decide your life for you...Other people's judgement doesn't have any power unless you offer yourself up for trial, so don't.

woman's past need not predict her future. She can dance to new music if she chooses. Her own music. To hear the tune, she must only stop talking. To herself, I mean. We're always trying to persuade ourselves of things.

Other people's judgment doesn't have any power unless you offer yourself up for trial, so don't." Zoey

Kids are supposed to grow up and cut the apron strings. I just never dreamed those sharp scissors would leave so many wounds.

reaction to something I've done, not that they're just doing their thing.

Eventually you have to stop letting people define you and start defining yourself. It's a lesson I'm both teaching and learning. Name yourself. Claim yourself. Classroom Constitution, Article Twelve.

free as the Canada geese that pass by

We didn't have fancy dresses and scooter toys on the porch and stuffed teddy bears and Crayolas and little china tea sets there. All we had was the river, but the river fed us and carried us and set us free.