Quotes About Independence

But the big hills up at the lake helped to make him feel that the houseboat man did not matter. The hills had been there before Captain Flint. They would be there for ever. That, somehow was comforting.

I have not yet spoken my last word about women. I believe that if a woman succeeds in withdrawing from the mass, or rather raising herself from above the mass, she grows ceaselessly and more than a man.

there are very few who can think, but every man wants to have an opinion; and what remains but to take it ready-made from others, instead of forming opinions for himself?

To be alone is the fate of all great minds—a fate deplored at times, but still always chosen as the less grievous of two evils.

For the more a man has in himself, the less he will want from other people,—the less, indeed, other people can be to him. This is why a high degree of intellect tends to make a man unsocial. True

in the end every one stands alone, and the important thing is who it is that stands alone.

A spring never free from the pressure of some foreign body at last loses its elasticity; and so does the mind if other people's thoughts are constantly forced upon it.

Whoever attaches great importance to the opinions of people pays them too much honour.

Instead of developing the child's own faculties of discernment, and teaching it to judge and think for itself, the teacher uses all his energies to stuff its head full of the ready-made thoughts of other people. The mistaken views of life, which spring from a false application of general ideas, have afterwards to be corrected by long years of experience; and it is seldom that they are wholly corrected.

Better alone than amongst traitors.

He who truly thinks for himself is like a monarch, in that he recognizes no one over him. His judgements, like the decisions of a monarch, arise directly from his own absolute power. He no more accepts authorities than a monarch does orders, and he acknowledges the validity of nothing he has not himself confirmed.

La solitude offre à l'homme intellectuellement haut placé un double avantage : le premier, d'être avec soi-même, et le second de n'être pas avec les autres.

The mind is by its nature free, not a slave; only what it does by itself and willingly is successful.

La felicidad pertenece a los que bastan a sí mismos.

Were I a King, my prime command would be—Leave me alone.

To live alone is the fate of all great souls

Was die Herde am meisten hasst, ist derjenige, der anders denkt; es ist nicht so sehr die Meinung selbst, sondern die Kühnheit, selbst denken zu wollen.

Pues cuanto más tiene uno en sí mismo, menos necesita del exterior y menos le importan los demás. Por eso la eminencia del espíritu conduce a la insociabilidad.

A man can be himself, only so long as he is alone

That woman is by nature intended to obey is shown by the fact that every woman who is placed in the unnatural position of absolute independence at once attaches herself to some kind of man, by whom she is controlled and governed; this is because she requires a master. If she, is young, the man is a lover; if she is old, a priest.

une foule énorme de gens ne sont sur la terre que pour mettre finalement au monde, à la suite de longs et mystérieux croisements, un homme qui, entre mille, possédera quelque indépendance

Un hombre puede ser él mismo mientras esté solo; si no ama la soledad, no amará la libertad; porque sólo cuando se está solo se es realmente libre.

A pena está para o pensamento como a bengala está para o andar. Da mesma maneira que se caminha com mais leveza sem bengala, o pensamento mais pleno se dá sem a pena. Apenas quando uma pessoa começa a ficar velha ela gosta de usar bengala e pena.

O único modo de desenvolver a superioridade na convivência com os outros é não precisar deles de maneira alguma e fazê-los perceber isso.