Quotes About Autonomy

But much of our current emphasis on independence is a reaction to dependence—to having others control us, define us, use us, and manipulate us.

one can hurt you without your consent." In the words of Gandhi, "They cannot take away our self respect if we do not give it to them.

But we are responsible—"response-able"—to control our lives and to powerfully influence our circumstances by working on be, on what we are.

Dependent people need others to get what they want. Independent people can get what they want through their own effort. Interdependent people combine their own efforts with the efforts of others to achieve their greatest success. If

Using intimidation builds weakness because it reinforces dependence on external factors

Our secret life is where we are able to tap into the power of the four human endowments: self-awareness, conscience, imagination, and independent will.

Our basic nature is to act, and not be acted upon. As well as enabling us to choose our response to particular circumstances, this empowers us to create circumstances.

But I kept thinking about it. I really went inside myself and began to ask, 'Do I have the power to choose my response?

We choose—either to live our lives or to let others live them for us. By making and keeping promises to ourselves and to others, little by little we increase our strength until our ability to act is more powerful than any of the forces that act upon us.

We choose—either to live our lives or to let others live them for us.

effective interdependence can only be built on a foundation of true independence.

So you have to weigh that consequence against the other consequence and make a choice. I know if it were me, I'd choose to go on the tennis trip. But never say you have to do anything.

appears to many to smack of dependence, and therefore, we find people, often for selfish reasons, leaving their marriages, abandoning their children, and forsaking all kinds of social responsibility—all in the name of independence.

he can only answer to life by answering for his own life;

On the maturity continuum, dependence is the paradigm of you—you take care of me; you come through for me; you didn't come through; I blame you for the results.

Dependent people cannot choose to become interdependent. They don't have the character to do it; they don't own enough of themselves.

eventually we can essentially take care of ourselves, becoming inner-directed and self-reliant.

As humans, our tendency is to play the victim. And unless you're watchful, it will sneak up on you and you'll start blaming outside forces—parents, spouses, bosses, the weather, the government, circumstances, "the Man," whomever—for your problems. In reality, we are not victims. We're agents. We are the creative forces of our lives, and we are free to choose. But we have to be reminded of this all the time.

Our ultimate freedom is the right and power to decide how anybody or anything outside ourselves will affect us. OBJECTIVE INTROSPECTION Until we see ourselves from the outside objectively, we will automatically project our motives onto other people.

True independence of character empowers us to act rather than be acted upon. It frees us from our dependence on circumstances and other people and is a worthy, liberating goal.

embryonic freedom day after day will, little by little, expand that freedom. People who do not will find that it withers until they are literally "being lived." They are acting out the scripts written by parents, associates, and society.

himself how all of this was going to affect him. Between what happened to him, or the stimulus, and his response to it, was his freedom or power to choose that response.

am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.

I admit this is very hard to accept emotionally, especially if we have had years and years of explaining our misery in the name of circumstance or someone else's behavior. But until a person can say deeply and honestly, "I am what I am today because of the choices I made yesterday," that person cannot say, "I choose otherwise.