Quotes About Autonomy

I'd much rather have a brain of my own than be popular.

How he loathed his life-long slavery to the clock, that pervasive intimate negative opposed to every spontaneous impulse. "It's the clock that is the nay-sayer to life," he thought

It's when we're given choice that we sit with the gods and design ourselves: this was the moment to learn who I was and what I'd become...

Everything, good or bad, was down to me.

That's what I like about the modern world: choice. We all choose what we have to live with.

If I had a girl, I'd want her to know that she can be anything she wants and that she doesn't have to rely on her looks or clothes or hair or make-up to define who she is or to get respect from other people. I'd want her to know she has a right to be respected or noticed because she was born. I'm not talking about all the girl power nonsense, I'm talking about my girl growing up knowing she has the right to be treated decently simply because she was born.

No matter how much you love a man, always have a stash of money that would get you as far away from him as possible in an emergency.

What we ask is to be human individuals, however peculiar and unexpected. It is no good saying: "You are a little girl and therefore you ought to like dolls"; if the answer is, "But I don't," there is no more to be said.

I imagine you come across a number of people who are disconcerted by the difference between what you do feel and what they fancy you ought to feel. It is fatal to pay the smallest attention to them.

Take me or leave me; or, as is the usual order of things, both.

that reproductive liberty is essential to women's political and social citizenship.

No woman can call herself free who does not own and control her own body. No woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether she will or will not be a mother

exploring how the denial of Black reproductive autonomy serves the interests of white supremacy.

deny Black women control over critical decisions about their bodies.

for if we try to go on protecting them we prevent them from growing up to be ordinary, confident adults, capable of looking after themselves.

She had never thought she would let a daughter of hers go away like this. But what could she do? Children grew up; they pleased themselves; they grew in power to go their own ways as you diminished in power to prevent them.

It is basic to any relationship, and particularly important in open relationships, that no one can own another person.

It's a very good idea for everyone to learn to live single—to figure out how to get your needs met without being partnered so you don't find yourself seeking a partner to fill needs that you could equally well fill yourself.

What you are not responsible for is your lover's emotions. You can choose to be supportive—we're great believers in the healing power of listening—but it is not your job to fix anything.

A basic precept of intimate communication is that each person owns their own feelings . No one "makes" you feel jealous or insecure—the person who makes you feel that way is you. No matter what the other person is doing, what you feel in response is determined inside you. Even when somebody deliberately tries to hurt you, you make a choice about how you feel.

You write the script, you get to make the choices, and you get to change your mind, too.

No matter what the other person is doing, what you feel in response is determined inside you. Even when somebody deliberately tries to hurt you, you make a choice about how you feel. You might feel angry or hurt or frightened or guilty. The choice, not usually conscious, happens inside you.

We each have the responsibility of living our own lives, determining our individual needs, and arranging to get those needs met. We cannot live through a partner, nor can we assume that just because we have a lover, all our needs should automatically be satisfied.

When you own your feelings, you have lots of choices.