Quotes About Autonomy

Freud—like all of us—was caught in. To melt oneself trustingly into the father, or the father-substitute, or even the Great Father in the sky, is to abandon the causa-sui project, the attempt to be father of oneself. And if you abandon that you are diminished, your destiny is no longer your own; you are the eternal child making your way in the world of the elders.

We did not create ourselves, but we are stuck with ourselves.

The strong belief that the interests of a particular nation-state are of primary importance. Also, the belief that a people who share a common language, history, and culture should constitute an independent nation, free of foreign domination.

No animal has more liberty than the cat, but it buries the mess it makes. The cat is the best anarchist.

You know it makes one feel rather good deciding not to be a bitch. Yes. It's sort of what we have instead of God.

But I try not to borrow. First you borrow. Then you beg.

He did not want any consequences. He did not want any consequences ever again. He wanted to live along without consequences.

looked at the tires carefully, looking for cuts or stone bruises. Everything seemed in good condition. It evidently made no difference whether I was there to look after things or not.

I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.

Love rests on two pillars: surrender and autonomy.

Armed with an ideology of love that advocates togetherness, we are awkward about pursuing autonomy. This is especially true of the individuality of our desire. Even couples who grant one another considerable space elsewhere

Armed with an ideology of love that advocates togetherness, we are awkward about pursuing autonomy. This is especially true of the individuality of our desire.

When people become fused—when two become one—connection can no longer happen. There is no one to connect with. Thus separateness is a precondition for connection: this is the essential paradox of intimacy and sex.

It's hard to feel attracted to someone who has abandoned her sense of autonomy. Maybe he can love her, but it's clearly much harder for him to desire her. There's no tension.

Pascal Bruckner writes, "Freedom does not release us from responsibilities but instead increases them. It does not lighten our burden but weighs us down further. It resolves problems less than it multiplies paradoxes. If this world sometimes seems brutal, that is because it is 'emancipated' and each individual's autonomy collides with that of others and is injured by them: never have people had to bear on their shoulders so many constraints.

One of the powerful attributes of secrecy is its function as a portal for autonomy and control.

I help them learn how to relinquish control intentionally, as a means of personal growth and self-discovery

People live their own way, and to a certain extent I almost believe they may die their own way, Laurel.

I was always my own teacher.

Når det kommer til stykket, er jeg ikke sikker på om De har moralsk rett til å blande dem i saken. Dessuten tror jeg fremdeles ikke det er noen fare på ferde. Etter min mening er det absurd å gå fra konseptene fordi om noen mennesker har fått lyst til å skifte ham. Det får bli deres egen sak. Det står enhver fritt for.

How far the pupil will go is not the concern of the teacher and Master. Hardly has he shown him the right way when he must let him go on alone.

This, then, is what counts: a lightning reaction which has no further need of conscious observation. In this respect at least the pupil makes himself independent of all conscious purpose.

Sînt deja închis. Cum sînt toti. Închis si totodata prea liber.

Because any fool knows that to work hard at something you want to accomplish is the only way to be happy. But beyond that it is entirely up to you. You've got to do for yourself all the seeking and finding concerned with what you want to do. Anyone but yourself is useless to you there.