Quotes About Autonomy

There were more ways to live than the ones given by one's superiors.

Everybody has to rescue themselves.

Whatever liberates our spirit without giving us mastery over ourselves is destructive." And whatever liberates our spirit while giving us mastery over ourselves is constructive.

One parent of a Rebel explained, "The best way to wrangle the Rebel child is to give the kid the information to make a decision, present the issue as a question that he alone can answer, and let him make a decision and act without telling you. Let him make a decision without an audience. Audiences = expectations. If he thinks you're not watching, he won't need to rebel against your expectations.

Questioners ... can add tremendous value to relationships and organizations by ensuring that they-and the people around them- don't unthinkingly accept expectations that aren't well justified

For Rebels, the ability to choose is so important that sometimes they make a choice—even when it's against their own self-interest or it's not what they prefer—just to reassure themselves that they can make that choice.

Rebels aren't persuaded by arguments such as 'People are counting on you,' 'You've already paid for it'...'Things should be done this way,' 'You have an appointment,' 'You said you'd do it'...'It's against the rules,' 'It's a tradition,' 'This is the deadline,' or 'It's rude.' They're much more apt to respond to being told 'This will be fun,' 'This is what *you* want'...Rebels can do anything they *want* to do.

It's a Secret of Adulthood: I give myself limits to give myself freedom.

But it doesn't matter what we think a person (or ourselves) should be able to do - what matter is only what works for each individual.

A feeling of control is a very important aspect of happiness. People who feel in control of their lives, which is powerfully bolstered by feeling in control of time, are more likely to feel happy.

Rebels can do anything they want to do

The harder the push, the greater the Rebel push-back. I laughed when a Rebel friend told me, 'No one can tell me to do anything. I recently got an email saying Please read in the subject line, and I immediately deleted it.

Rebels often seek out careers that give them the flexibility to choose their work, set their own schedules, and avoid having to answer to other people.

So while [Upholds] live by the motto, 'Discipline brings freedom,' [Rebels] live by the motto: 'Freedom is my discipline.

This freedom from decision making is crucial, because when I have to decide—which often involves resisting temptation or postponing gratification—I tax my self-control.

Perhaps, the feeling of control is an essential element of happiness - a better predictor of happiness than, say, income. Having a feeling of autonomy, of being able to choose what happens in your life or how you spend your time, is crucial.

Information, consequences, choice. Without lectures or micro-management or rescue.

Rebels have shown me that We're more free than we think

Better to work for yourself alone. You do as you like and follow your own ideas, you admire yourself and please yourself: isn't that the main thing? And then the public is so stupid. Besides, who reads? And what do they read? And what do they admire?

It is a wonderful thing, how no one will allow anyone to live as he likes.

The images detached from every aspect of life merge into a common stream in which the unity of that life can no longer be recovered. Fragmented views of reality regroup themselves into a new unity as a separate pseudoworld that can only be looked at. The specialization of images of the world evolves into a world of autonomized images where even the deceivers are deceived. The spectacle is a concrete inversion of life, an autonomous movement of the nonliving.

El espectáculo en general, como inversión concreta de la vida, es el movimiento autónomo de lo no viviente

But the whole thing, after all, may be put very simply. I believe that it is better to tell the truth than to lie. I believe that it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe that it is better to know than be ignorant.

I believe in only one thing: liberty; but I do not believe in liberty enough to want to force it upon anyone.