This continuation page contains additional source-backed quotations not shown in the initial 50-quotation overview. Return to the topic guide and browse collection.
“Self-help is the best help.”
Asking for help does not replace the responsibility to make the effort that is already within one’s own power.
Moral printed after “Hercules and the Wagoner” in the Townsend translation; Hercules first tells the driver to help himself.
“Self-reverence, self-knowledge, self-control, These three alone lead life to sovereign power.”
Tennyson joins respect for oneself with knowledge and restraint: durable personal power is presented as the result of living by an inward law rather than seeking power merely for its own sake.
Oenone, in The Early Poems of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Project Gutenberg #8601. Pallas speaks the lines while arguing that self-reverence, self-knowledge and self-control lead to a life governed by right rather than by reward; this is poetic character speech, not a prose maxim detached from the poem.
“And so the good man ought to be Self-loving: because by doing what is noble he will have advantage himself and will do good to others.”
Aristotle distinguishes a worthy form of self-love from selfish appetite: the good person values the rational and noble part of life in a way that benefits both the self and other people.
Nicomachean Ethics, Book IX, Chapter VIII, Project Gutenberg #8438. The surrounding argument explicitly contrasts this noble “Self-loving” with the blameworthy form that grasps at wealth, honours and bodily pleasures, so the line is not a defense of simple selfishness.
“One man cannot tell another man where the other man wants to go.”
Self-development begins with aims that actually belong to the individual; another person can suggest methods but cannot supply a genuinely personal destination.
Mental Efficiency, opening discussion of self-development. Project Gutenberg #23347. Bennett is distinguishing method from personal purpose, not claiming that advice or collaboration has no value.
“If a man is to turn everything whatsoever into his own calm, dignity, and happiness, he must make this use even of his own failures.”
Failure becomes useful when it is examined and incorporated into future conduct instead of being allowed to settle a person’s sense of dignity or possibility.
The Human Machine, discussion of using experience for self-command. Bennett’s claim is philosophical self-training advice; it does not imply that every failure is beneficial or emotionally easy.
“We have to forfeit three-fourths of ourselves in order to become like other people.”
Conformity is described as costly when fitting in requires surrendering too much individuality, judgment, or temperament.
Counsels and Maxims, in Schopenhauer’s discussion of society and individuality; T. Bailey Saunders translation.
“A man can be himself only so long as he is alone; and if he does not love solitude, he will not love freedom; for it is only when he is alone that he is really free.”
Schopenhauer links solitude with freedom from the constant accommodation that social life requires, especially for strongly individual temperaments.
Counsels and Maxims, chapter on our relation to others, translated by T. Bailey Saunders.
“Otherwise, a man is the slave of what other people are pleased to think.”
Dependence on approval can turn other people’s judgments into a form of control; self-respect requires allowing outside opinion to inform rather than govern one’s sense of worth.
The Wisdom of Life; the sentence appears in Schopenhauer’s criticism of giving excessive weight to reputation and social opinion.
“What a man is contributes much more to his happiness than what he has, or how he is regarded by others.”
Schopenhauer places personal character and inner constitution above possessions and reputation, making well-being depend more on what a person is than on external valuation.
The Wisdom of Life; T. Bailey Saunders’s public-domain translation distinguishes what a person is from possessions and from the opinions of other people.
“It would be a miserable existence which should make its value or want of value depend upon what other people think.”
A life whose value rises and falls with public opinion has no stable center; Schopenhauer argues for locating worth somewhere less volatile than other people’s changing judgments.
The Wisdom of Life; Schopenhauer criticizes the habit of measuring the value of one’s existence by reputation or the fluctuating opinions of others.
“Industry pays debts, while despair increaseth them.”
Franklin contrasts productive effort with passive discouragement, presenting earned income and continued work as practical ways to reduce obligations.
The Way to Wealth / Poor Richard Improved, industry section; represented by Project Gutenberg #43855. Father Abraham is compiling maxims from Franklin’s earlier Almanacks.
“If you would be wealthy, think of saving as well as of getting.”
Income alone does not create financial security; keeping part of what is earned is presented as a necessary companion to earning it.
The Way to Wealth, Franklin’s compilation of Poor Richard maxims.
“If you would know the value of money, go and try to borrow some.”
Borrowing makes the cost and scarcity of money concrete, turning an abstract idea of value into an immediate obligation.
The Way to Wealth, in Franklin’s discussion of debt and credit.
“A ploughman on his legs is higher than a gentleman on his knees.”
Financial independence earned through ordinary work is valued above status maintained through borrowing, dependence, or costly appearance.
The Way to Wealth, frugality section; Project Gutenberg #43855. Father Abraham contrasts industrious people with those reduced to borrowing by extravagance.
“We do not want all men to be alike.”
Human development should not be forced into one standardized mold because individuality and creative difference are themselves goods worth protecting.
Political Ideals, early discussion of individual development. Russell immediately criticizes the bad teacher who imposes one opinion and produces pupils giving the same answer to doubtful questions.
“A certain kind of self-respect or native pride is necessary to a good life.”
Russell treats a durable sense of inward worth as necessary for living without surrendering completely to defeat, pressure or external judgment.
Political Ideals, discussion of what social institutions should make possible for individuals. Russell immediately connects self-respect with courage, hope and living by the best within oneself despite obstacles.
“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an independent will.”
The speaker refuses a relationship defined by captivity or unequal power and asserts freedom, dignity, and the right to choose.
Jane Eyre; Jane insists on moral and personal independence during a decisive conversation with Rochester.
“I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself.”
Jane’s self-care is inseparable from moral self-respect: the fewer external supports she has, the more firmly she refuses to abandon principles that preserve her dignity.
Jane Eyre, Chapter XXVII, Project Gutenberg #1260. Jane answers the pressure to remain with Rochester by saying she cares for herself and will respect herself more when friendless and unsupported, then explicitly invokes law, principles and temptation. It is fictional first-person moral reasoning under dramatic pressure, not Charlotte Brontë autobiography or universal relationship advice.
“Never free to compromise her self-respect, to seek where she had been shunned.”
The narration marks self-respect as a boundary: rejection does not create an obligation to keep pursuing acceptance at the cost of dignity.
Shirley; fictional narrative description within the novel’s relationship context. The line describes a character’s restraint and must not be presented as a direct autobiographical maxim by Charlotte Brontë.
“Stainless honour, inflexible independence, indestructible self-respect there took the word.”
The narration personifies honour, independence and self-respect as the forces that govern a character’s response when compromise would threaten dignity.
The Professor; fictional narration describing Frances Henri. The elevated phrasing belongs to the novel’s characterization and is not presented as a context-free statement of Brontë’s own life.
“I should make some advance in life, take another step towards an independent position.”
Lucy frames progress in terms of greater independence, making self-directed position and livelihood part of how she imagines moving forward.
Villette; excerpt from Lucy Snowe’s reflection on how to advance toward a more independent position. This is fictional first-person narration, and the excerpt is not presented as Brontë speaking autobiographically.
“in spite of you and Jane! And I’ve pulled off most of the paper, so you can’t put me back!”
At the story’s climax, the narrator treats tearing away the wallpaper as an escape from the confinement she has come to associate with the room and with the figures controlling her.
The Yellow Wallpaper, represented by Project Gutenberg #1952. The words are spoken by the unnamed narrator to John at the story’s disturbing climax; the scene depicts psychological breakdown inside fiction and is not presented as mental-health guidance.
“What the superior man seeks, is in himself. What the mean man seeks, is in others.”
Mature judgment begins with one’s own conduct and capacities rather than making other people the first explanation for every outcome.
The Analects of Confucius, James Legge’s public-domain English translation; Book XV contrasts inward self-examination with dependence on others.
“The true standpoint from which to view this question is individual sovereignty, individual happiness.”
Stanton makes the individual rather than an institution the starting point for judging intimate social arrangements, linking personal sovereignty with the pursuit of happiness.
Eighty Years and More (1898), Chapter XIV, “Views on Marriage and Divorce,” Project Gutenberg #11982. Stanton introduces the surrounding passage as “my latest thought on this question” from The Arena of April 1894, then argues that marriage and divorce should be judged from individual sovereignty and individual happiness. The 1898 memoir remains the represented source while the embedded 1894 article origin is preserved.
“Our inner being, which we call ourself, no eye nor touch of man or angel has ever pierced.”
The private interior of a person cannot be fully occupied by anyone else; Stanton uses that irreducible inwardness to ground responsibility, dignity, and the need for independent development.
Solitude of Self; Stanton’s concluding meditation on the “solitude of self” describes an inward domain inaccessible even to the people who love or protect us.
“To guide our own craft, we must be captain, pilot, engineer; with chart and compass to stand at the wheel.”
The voyage metaphor makes personal preparation unavoidable: support from others matters, but a person still needs judgment and capacity when circumstances require independent action.
Solitude of Self; Stanton develops an extended navigation metaphor to argue that every person must be equipped for the emergencies and decisions of an individual life.
“The isolation of every human soul and the necessity of self-dependence must give each individual the right, to choose his own surroundings.”
Because each person ultimately bears an individual life, Stanton argues that self-dependence requires meaningful authority over the conditions in which that life is lived.
Solitude of Self, 1892 congressional address; punctuation follows a widely reproduced transcription of Stanton’s public-domain speech.
“Self-development is a higher duty than self-sacrifice.”
Stanton challenges a moral standard that praises women mainly for self-denial, arguing instead that developing one’s capacities is itself an important obligation.
The Woman’s Bible, Stanton commentary; the line appears in her critique of idealizing women’s self-sacrifice and is preserved in the Project Gutenberg text.
“My first duty is to develop all the powers given to me and to make the most of myself and my own life.”
The imagined speaker refuses to let another person dispose of her life, grounding dignity in the responsibility to develop her own capacities and possibilities.
The Woman's Bible, The Book of Judges, Chapter II, Judges xi, Project Gutenberg #9880. Stanton imagines Jephthah's unnamed daughter rejecting sacrifice: ‘My first duty is to develop all the powers given to me and to make the most of myself and my own life.’ This is Stanton's invented protest voice within her commentary, not a biblical quotation or speech preserved in Judges.
“’Tis the set of the soul that decides its goal and not the calm or the strife.”
The nautical metaphor places direction in the stance a person adopts toward conditions, arguing that purpose can survive both ease and adversity.
Poems of Optimism, “The Winds of Fate,” first published in this collection in 1913; Project Gutenberg #7421. The statement is metaphorical poetry about agency, not a denial of material constraints or unequal circumstances.
“The soul selects her own society, then shuts the door.”
Dickinson’s compressed image emphasizes selective attention and the right to decide what receives intimate access.
“The Soul Selects Her Own Society”; capitalization is lightly normalized.
“On the occasion of every accident that befalls you, remember to turn to yourself and inquire what power you have for turning it to use.”
Instead of beginning with what an event has taken away, the practice asks which capacity—endurance, restraint, patience, or judgment—can still be exercised.
Enchiridion, section X, George Long translation; Epictetus gives examples such as endurance under pain and patience under abuse.
“If I am a princess in rags and tatters, I can be a princess inside.”
Dignity is separated from possessions and appearance, locating self-worth in conduct and inner standards when external status has been stripped away.
A Little Princess; Sara uses an imagined inner identity to preserve dignity during poverty and mistreatment.
“It recalled to life my crushed self-respect, and my self-confidence, and inspired me with a renewed determination to be a free man.”
Douglass describes confidence as something restored through resistance: the change is not abstract positive thinking but a renewed sense of personal agency after physically resisting the violence of enslavement.
Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, Project Gutenberg #71893, in Douglass’s retrospective account of resisting Edward Covey. The passage belongs to the history of slavery and self-emancipation; it should not be reduced to a generic motivational slogan detached from that violence.
“I WAS A MAN NOW.”
The emphatic line records Douglass’s restored sense of manhood and dignity after resisting physical domination; it belongs to a specific autobiographical struggle against enslavement.
My Bondage and My Freedom, immediately after Douglass describes his resistance to Covey; capitalization follows the represented Project Gutenberg text.
“I was a changed being after that fight.”
Douglass identifies resistance to Covey as a decisive psychological turning point in which a previously crushed sense of agency and personhood begins to return.
My Bondage and My Freedom, Chapter XVII, ‘The Last Flogging,’ Project Gutenberg #202. Douglass calls his fight with Edward Covey the turning point in his ‘life as a slave’ and writes ‘I was a changed being after that fight’ immediately before ‘I WAS A MAN NOW.’ The passage is autobiographical testimony about resistance to enslavement and restored self-respect, not a universal prescription for violence or a clinical theory of agency.
“My long-crushed spirit rose, cowardice departed, bold defiance took its place.”
Resistance restored a sense of personhood and self-command, marking a psychological turning point even before Douglass obtained legal freedom.
Narrative, Chapter X; the line follows Douglass’s physical resistance to Edward Covey and precedes his resolve never again to be a slave in fact.
“Personal independence is a virtue.”
Douglass values personal agency and self-dependence while rejecting the idea that anyone creates a life entirely alone, placing independence within a wider network of social assistance and obligation.
Self-Made Men lecture, commonly dated to 1872 in edited versions. The compact statement occurs within an argument that values self-dependence while the lecture’s opening explicitly denies that anyone is literally or completely self-made; Library of Congress manuscript materials anchor the source identity and preserve later versions.
“The noble soul has reverence for itself.”
The line connects nobility with an inward standard of dignity rather than dependence on applause, rank, or approval from other people.
Beyond Good and Evil, section 287, Helen Zimmern public-domain translation, Project Gutenberg #4363. The represented witness prints “THE NOBLE SOUL HAS REVERENCE FOR ITSELF” in capitals; the frozen catalog keeps ordinary capitalization. Nietzsche’s claim belongs to his rank / nobility argument and is not an evidence-based rule of self-esteem.
“Public opinion—private laziness.”
The epigram provocatively suggests that adopting public opinion can sometimes substitute borrowed judgment for the harder work of forming one’s own view.
Human, All-Too-Human, Part I, aphorism 482, “Repeated Once More”; Helen Zimmern translation.
“What Saith thy Conscience?—“Thou shalt become what thou art.””
The line frames conscience as a demand to develop into one’s own character rather than merely conforming to an externally supplied identity.
The Joyful Wisdom, aphorism 270; Thomas Common translation. The formula has a longer classical and Nietzschean history, so this record is tied specifically to this occurrence.
“What is the Seal of Liberty Attained?—To be no longer ashamed of oneself.”
Nietzsche links attained freedom with release from self-shame, framing liberty as partly an inward change in one’s relation to oneself.
The Joyful Wisdom, aphorism 275; Thomas Common translation.
“What dost thou Believe in?—In this: That the weights of all things must be determined anew.”
The aphorism calls for a revaluation of inherited measures rather than accepting established rankings of importance as final.
The Joyful Wisdom, aphorism 269; Thomas Common translation.
“To go wrong in one’s own way is better than to go right in someone else’s.”
Razumihin values the capacity to make and correct one’s own mistakes over passive dependence on borrowed conclusions, making independent error part of an active search for truth.
Crime and Punishment, Part III, Chapter I, printed page 203 / Wikisource scan leaf 235, Constance Garnett translation in the scan-backed 1917 Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction / P. F. Collier & Son edition, cross-checked against Project Gutenberg #2554. Razumihin argues that going wrong in one’s own way is better than going right in someone else’s while defending the role of making one’s own errors in reaching truth; it remains energetic fictional character dialogue rather than direct Dostoevsky autobiography.
“Above all, don’t lie to yourself.”
Self-deception is presented as especially damaging because it corrupts the person’s ability to recognize truth both inwardly and around them.
The Brothers Karamazov, Book II, Chapter 4, “A Lady of Little Faith,” Constance Garnett translation, verified against Project Gutenberg #28054 and Wikisource. Father Zossima tells the visitor, “Above all, don’t lie to yourself,” and develops the warning into an argument about self-deception, respect and love; this is fictional character counsel inside the novel.
“Independent! Oh, Alice, what a blessed thing is independence!”
Virginia Madden reacts to even temporary financial independence as a profound relief from dependence on employers, relatives and the marriage market.
The Odd Women, represented by Project Gutenberg #4313. Virginia speaks to her sister Alice early in the novel; the exclamation sits inside Gissing’s wider treatment of unmarried women, paid work and constrained choices in Victorian England.
“They ought to be illustrations not authorities, studies not models.”
Great predecessors can teach principles without becoming templates to copy, preserving the learner’s responsibility to develop independent judgment and expression.
The Principles of Success in Literature, chapter on Style, Project Gutenberg #10420; Lewes is warning writers against imitating Cicero, Titian or other masters.
“At any rate see that it be your own, and not another's; on no other terms will the world listen to it.”
Distinctive style is tied to ownership of thought and expression: the writer is urged to develop a voice grounded in genuine perception rather than borrowed manner.
The Principles of Success in Literature, chapter on Style, Project Gutenberg #10420; the sentence concludes a warning against imitation and affected literary manner.
“Do no violence to yourself, respect in yourself the oscillations of feeling.”
Self-respect here means refusing to force inner life into an artificial uniformity; changing feelings can be observed and treated with patience instead of self-aggression.
Amiel's Journal, entry dated April 28, 1852, in Mary Augusta Ward’s public-domain translation; Amiel counsels patience with the movement of feeling.
“The gentleman, then, is the man who is master of himself, who respects himself, and makes others respect him.”
Amiel links dignity with self-command and self-respect, suggesting that social respect is strongest when it grows from conduct and standards rather than from demanded recognition.
Amiel's Journal, entry dated April 6, 1866, in Mary Augusta Ward’s public-domain English translation; the entry reflects on the qualities of a gentleman.
“The strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone.”
Dr. Stockmann turns social isolation into a claim about independence of conviction: within the play’s conflict, standing without majority approval becomes evidence of his determination to continue rather than a neutral rule that solitude always makes a person stronger.
An Enemy of the People, Act V, R. Farquharson Sharp public-domain translation, Project Gutenberg #2446. Dr. Thomas Stockmann tells his family that “the strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone” after deciding to remain in town and educate boys despite public hostility. This is fictional dramatic speech within a contentious political conflict, not a neutral empirical rule about isolation.
“Every path but your own is the path of fate. Keep on your own track, then.”
The passage favors an examined personal direction over drifting into a life selected by convention.
Walden; Thoreau contrasts one’s own deliberate track with paths chosen by others.
“What a man thinks of himself, that it is which determines, or rather indicates, his fate.”
Thoreau argues that private self-judgment can become a powerful constraint or permission, shaping choices more strongly than public opinion alone.
Walden, “Economy,” in the passage contrasting public opinion with a person’s own private opinion of himself.
“I have never allowed a gentleman to dictate to me, or to interfere with anything I do.”
Daisy rejects Winterbourne’s attempt to direct her behavior, asserting personal agency within the restrictive social expectations surrounding her.
Daisy Miller: A Study, Project Gutenberg #208. Daisy speaks to Winterbourne in Rome; the line is fictional dialogue shaped by the novella’s conflict over convention, reputation and autonomy.
“If there’s a thing in the world I’m fond of, it’s my personal independence.”
Isabel Archer states the value she places on choosing for herself, establishing independence as a central desire that later decisions will test.
The Portrait of a Lady, Volume I, Project Gutenberg #2833. Isabel says this to Caspar Goodwood while resisting his proposal and his argument that marriage would make her more independent.
“I would prefer not to.”
Bartleby’s mild repeated refusal becomes the story’s central form of resistance, forcing the narrator to confront limits on authority, obligation and understanding.
Bartleby, the Scrivener, Project Gutenberg #11231. Bartleby speaks this line when the lawyer asks him to help examine copied documents; it is fictional character dialogue, not a general prescription to refuse work or obligations.
“There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises with every attempt to intimidate me.”
Elizabeth frames self-respect as resistance to intimidation: another person’s status or deliberate pressure does not automatically earn the power to determine how she speaks or behaves.
Pride and Prejudice, Chapter XXXI, Project Gutenberg #1342. Elizabeth Bennet says this to Mr. Darcy at Rosings while he stands near the pianoforte as she plays. Darcy immediately teases her that she sometimes enjoys professing opinions that are not entirely her own, so the line also carries Austen’s character comedy.
“whatever school you follow, it must be only to learn method, not to imitate result”
Studying earlier schools should teach method without turning the student into an imitator, preserving space for an artistic response rooted in the maker’s own time and nature.
Lectures on Art, Lecture VII, Project Gutenberg #19164. The surrounding passage explicitly distinguishes learning from past masters from adopting their results as one’s own.
“you have to become lowly and strong; to recognise the powers of others and to fulfil your own.”
Creative development is framed as a balance between recognizing other people’s powers and taking responsibility for developing one’s own rather than copying them.
Lectures on Art, Lecture VII, Project Gutenberg #19164. Ruskin is warning students against both conceit and servile imitation.
“He who chooses his plan for himself, employs all his faculties.”
Choosing for oneself exercises observation, reasoning, discrimination, and self-command in ways that passive imitation does not.
On Liberty, Chapter III, in Mill’s discussion of individuality and self-directed choice.
“He who does anything because it is the custom, makes no choice.”
Mill argues that genuine individuality requires active judgment rather than automatic conformity: a person develops the faculties of choice only by deciding for reasons he has actually examined.
On Liberty, Chapter III, “Of Individuality, as One of the Elements of Well-Being”; Project Gutenberg #34901. The sentence follows Mill's list of perception, judgment, discriminative feeling, mental activity and moral preference as faculties exercised through making a choice.
“Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign.”
Mill draws a boundary around mature individual self-government: social power requires justification when it coerces a person in matters that principally concern that person rather than preventing harm to others.
On Liberty, Chapter I, Project Gutenberg #34901. This sentence follows Mill’s harm-principle formulation and belongs to a political-philosophical argument about the legitimate limits of social and legal interference. It is not a claim that every private action has no effects or obligations toward other people.
“He who lets the world, or his own portion of it, choose his plan of life for him, has no need of any other faculty than the ape-like one of imitation.”
A life copied from convention leaves important human faculties unused; choosing deliberately requires observation, judgment and firmness.
On Liberty, Chapter III; Mill contrasts imitation with actively choosing one’s own plan of life.
“The question rests with women themselves—to be decided by their own experience, and by the use of their own faculties.”
Mill argues that women themselves must test capacities and choices through experience rather than having those possibilities defined in advance by others.
The Subjection of Women (1869), Chapter I, printed page 48, Project Gutenberg #27083. Mill argues that questions about women’s capacities and vocations should be decided by women’s own experience and use of their faculties rather than imposed in advance by men.
“Human beings are no longer born to their place in life, and chained down by an inexorable bond to the place they are born to.”
Mill contrasts modern ideals of social mobility and personal freedom with older hereditary arrangements that fixed people permanently into inherited stations.
The Subjection of Women (1869), Chapter I, printed page 29, Project Gutenberg #27083. Mill contrasts inherited fixed social stations with the modern principle that people should be free to employ their faculties and pursue available opportunities.
“He who would rightly appreciate the worth of personal independence as an element of happiness, should consider the value he himself puts upon it as an ingredient of his own.”
Mill asks readers to evaluate another person’s need for independence by first recognizing how strongly they value independence in their own lives.
The Subjection of Women (1869), Chapter IV, printed page 179, Project Gutenberg #27083. Mill asks readers to estimate another person’s need for independence by considering the value they themselves place on personal independence as an element of happiness.
“Free! Body and soul free!”
Louise Mallard whispers the phrase as she imagines a future in which her own will and time are no longer organized around marriage.
“The Story of an Hour,” first published in 1894 and represented by Wikisource. The words belong to Louise Mallard’s private reaction after she is told her husband has died; the story’s irony and ending are essential context.
“He that walketh uprightly walketh surely.”
Consistent upright conduct reduces the need to maintain conflicting stories or hidden motives.
Proverbs 10:9 in the King James Version; the opening clause is quoted here.
“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”
Guarding inner life is presented as practical because attention and motives influence conduct downstream.
Proverbs 4:23 in the King James Version.
“A man then must stand erect, not be kept erect by others.”
The line values inner steadiness over dependence on constant external reassurance, praise, or support.
Meditations, Book III, section 5, George Long translation.
“Be cheerful also, and seek not external help nor the tranquillity which others give.”
Marcus places steadiness inside the governing mind rather than in reassurance supplied by other people, emphasizing an internal source of composure while still writing within a larger Stoic ethic of social duty.
Meditations, Book III, section 5, George Long translation; Project Gutenberg #6920/#15877. The sentence immediately precedes “A man then must stand erect, not be kept erect by others,” making the inward-reliance context explicit.
“Look within. Within is the fountain of good, and it will ever bubble up, if thou wilt ever dig.”
Moral resources are pictured as something cultivated inwardly through continued examination rather than obtained only from external approval or circumstance.
Meditations, Book VII, section 59, George Long translation in Thoughts of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.
“There is reason and reality in some degree of self-reliance.”
Self-reliance becomes credible when it grows from tested knowledge of what one can actually endure and do, rather than from empty confidence or social display.
Life Without and Life Within, “The Poor Man”; Fuller argues that difficult experience can produce realistic knowledge of one’s resources and a grounded degree of self-reliance.
“Whether this be the best way is of no consequence, if it be the one individual character points out.”
Fuller gives individual character real authority in choosing a path: the decisive question is whether the course belongs honestly to the person living it.
Summer on the Lakes, in 1843; the sentence appears in Fuller’s dialogic reflection on temperament, inquiry, and following the direction one’s own character requires.
“I must depend on myself as the only constant friend.”
The statement does not deny friendship with others; it names the continuity of one’s relationship with oneself as a reason to cultivate dependable inward resources.
Woman in the Nineteenth Century; spoken by Fuller’s illustrative figure Miranda while explaining the self-dependence encouraged by her upbringing.
“That her hand may be given with dignity, she must be able to stand alone.”
A relationship entered from the ability to stand independently can preserve dignity more fully than one made necessary by the inability to exist outside it.
Woman in the Nineteenth Century; Fuller connects the dignity of freely giving oneself in relationship with the prior ability to stand independently.
“I have urged upon the sex self-subsistence in its two forms of self-reliance and self-impulse.”
Fuller argues for the ability to stand and act from within rather than living only through prescribed dependence, making self-reliance part of a wider claim to human development.
Woman in the Nineteenth Century; Fuller explicitly names self-subsistence, self-reliance, and self-impulse within her argument about women’s independence.
“That faith and self-respect had early been awakened which must always lead, at last, to an outward serenity and an inward peace.”
Self-respect and inward faith are presented as foundations that can survive adversity and gradually produce greater steadiness in both outward life and inner experience.
Woman in the Nineteenth Century, in the discussion of Miranda; Fuller explicitly connects awakened self-respect with serenity and inward peace.
“I do not wish them to have power over men; but over themselves.”
The sentence defines empowerment as self-command rather than domination, centering education, judgment, and personal agency as the basis of freedom.
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman; Wollstonecraft distinguishes equality and self-government from power over others.
“I wish to persuade women to endeavour to acquire strength, both of mind and body.”
Wollstonecraft rejects cultivated helplessness and argues for developing women's intellectual and physical capacities so they can stand as rational agents rather than depend on flattering ideals of weakness.
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Introduction, Project Gutenberg #3420. The frozen quotation 'I wish to persuade women to endeavour to acquire strength, both of mind and body' is a clause from a longer sentence beginning 'I earnestly wish to point out...' and continuing through Wollstonecraft's criticism of delicacy and weakness as feminine ideals. It remains eighteenth-century feminist political-moral argument rather than a modern clinical or physiological prescription.
“They must only bow to the authority of reason, instead of being the modest slaves of opinion.”
Respectability is grounded in independent reasoning rather than deference to social opinion, making judgment more important than approval.
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman; Wollstonecraft explicitly connects independence of character with the exercise of understanding.
“To become respectable, the exercise of their understanding is necessary; there is no other foundation for independence of character.”
Independent character is presented as something built through trained understanding, not granted by status, appearance or approval.
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman; the statement immediately precedes Wollstonecraft’s insistence on reason rather than opinion as authority.
“One principal of action is sufficient—Respect thyself.”
Wollstonecraft makes self-respect a moral standard rather than self-flattery: conduct should remain compatible with one’s own sense of truth and justice instead of being reorganized around gaining a respectable social position.
An Historical and Moral View of the Origin and Progress of the French Revolution, Project Gutenberg #68724. Wollstonecraft connects “Respect thyself” with religion, justice and self-love while criticizing social arrangements that encourage people to sacrifice truthful character for status.
“men with common minds seldom break through general rules.”
The travel reflection criticizes automatic conformity, suggesting that ordinary caution can keep people from testing whether a rule still makes sense in a particular situation.
Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, Letter I; represented Cassell & Company 1889 text in Project Gutenberg #3529, preserving Wollstonecraft’s 1796 travel-letter work. After describing the customary maritime rule against sending out a boat, Wollstonecraft says that “men with common minds seldom break through general rules” while criticizing the captain’s reluctance to depart from convention. This is a first-person travel judgment about a particular situation, not a general empirical claim about ordinary people.
“’Tis my opinion that a man should lend himself to others, and only give himself to himself.”
Montaigne distinguishes participating in other people’s affairs from surrendering one’s whole inward life to them: engagement can be generous without allowing every external demand to possess the will.
Essays of Montaigne, Book III, Chapter X, “Of Managing the Will,” Charles Cotton translation; Project Gutenberg Volume 18 #3598 / Complete Essays #3600. Montaigne describes lending oneself to external affairs without allowing them to possess the whole will.
“It is not a question of what some one else can do or become, which every youth should ask himself, but what can I do?”
The question redirects comparison away from other people and toward the concrete development of one’s own abilities.
Architects of Fate; Project Gutenberg #21622. This record uses the opening portion of Marden’s longer self-development question.
“We cannot deceive ourselves any of the time, and the only way to enjoy our own respect is to deserve it.”
Self-respect is linked to conduct rather than self-flattery: a stable good opinion of oneself is earned by behaving in ways one can honestly stand behind.
How to Succeed, “Hold Up Your Head”; Marden follows a Lincoln anecdote by arguing that self-respect depends on deserving one’s own approval.
“Shame and its consequent degradation follow the loss of our own good opinion rather than the esteem of others.”
The sentence places moral injury in losing one’s own considered respect, not merely in losing social approval, making conscience a more important measure than reputation.
How to Succeed; the sentence appears in Marden’s discussion of temptation, aspiration, and the damage caused when self-respect is surrendered.
“Let no one shake your faith in yourself.”
The brief command protects an internal source of confidence from being surrendered automatically to criticism or discouragement from outside.
The Victorious Attitude; the sentence is followed by explicitly religious language about faith, so the source page keeps that spiritual context visible.
“Show the world that you respect yourself, that you believe in yourself, and that, no matter how hard the way, you are marching on to victory.”
Marden treats visible self-respect as a refusal to let hardship define identity, encouraging a posture of agency even when material circumstances are difficult.
The Victorious Attitude, opening chapter; the rhetoric is deliberately motivational and reflects early twentieth-century success literature rather than an empirical psychological claim.
“The only possible society is oneself.”
The comic exaggeration makes self-company part of Wilde’s joke about society while still centering comfort with oneself.
An Ideal Husband, Act III; Lord Goring tells Phipps “The only possible society is oneself” immediately before the lifelong-romance epigram. Verified against the public-domain Wikisource Act III transcription and Project Gutenberg #885; the line remains dandyish comic character speech rather than uncomplicated authorial doctrine.
“To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.”
The line playfully treats self-acceptance not as a one-time achievement but as a relationship that lasts throughout life.
An Ideal Husband, Act III; Lord Goring tells Phipps that “To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance” immediately after saying that the only possible society is oneself. Verified against the public-domain Wikisource Act III transcription and Project Gutenberg #885. This remains comic fictional dialogue in Wilde’s social comedy rather than a psychological finding.
“To be natural is such a very difficult pose to keep up.”
The paradox mocks social performance: even “being natural” can become a carefully maintained pose when people are conscious of appearances.
An Ideal Husband, Act I; Mrs. Cheveley—not Lord Goring—answers Sir Robert Chiltern’s question “You prefer to be natural?” with “Sometimes. But it is such a very difficult pose to keep up.” Verified against the public-domain Wikisource Act I transcription and Project Gutenberg #885.
“It is not selfish to think for oneself.”
Independent thought is distinguished from selfishness: forming one’s own judgment can protect individuality without requiring indifference to other people.
The Soul of Man under Socialism; Wilde defends individual thought while criticizing social pressure that mistakes conformity for moral virtue.
“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.”
Wilde separates deliberate individual living from merely passing through existence, making self-realization and chosen purpose part of what it means to live fully.
The Soul of Man under Socialism; Wilde develops individualism as the freedom to form a life from within rather than conform to social expectation.
“Whether I should sink or swim depended wholly upon my own energy.”
Barnum frames the newly acquired museum as a situation in which sustained personal effort and management would determine whether the venture survived.
Struggles and Triumphs, 1872 author’s edition; Barnum is describing the beginning of his ownership and management of the American Museum.
“Debt robs a man of his self-respect, and makes him almost despise himself.”
The rhetoric emphasizes the psychological burden Barnum associated with unpaid consumption debt, linking financial obligation with dependence and loss of confidence.
The Art of Money Getting, “Avoid Debt”; Project Gutenberg #8581. This is Barnum’s forceful moral rhetoric, not a clinical claim about every debtor’s mental state.
“Remember that thou art a man and do not degrade thyself: this is self-respect.”
Janet treats human dignity as a floor below which humility should not push a person: recognizing weakness does not require degrading oneself or surrendering self-respect.
Elements of Morals, Chapter XIV, section 165, printed page 296, Caroline Rollin Corson’s 1884 English translation, Project Gutenberg #37016. “Remember that thou art a man and do not degrade thyself: this is self-respect” appears in the same paragraph as Janet’s paired reminder against vain pride, making self-respect and humility complementary parts of his moral argument rather than generic affirmation copy.
“Humility should not be an abasement; for it is never a virtue in man to lower himself.”
Janet sharply separates humility from self-degradation: accurate awareness of human weakness should coexist with dignity, so humility does not require pretending that one has no worth or abilities.
Elements of Morals, Chapter XIV, section 165, printed page 296, Caroline Rollin Corson’s 1884 English translation, Project Gutenberg #37016. Janet distinguishes humility from abasement: humility arises from recognition of human weakness, but lowering oneself is not itself a virtue. The passage belongs to nineteenth-century systematic moral philosophy rather than modern clinical self-esteem guidance.
“I would rather die having spoken after my manner, than speak in your manner and live.”
Preserving truthful speech and character is valued above survival purchased by abandoning one’s principles merely to satisfy an audience.
Apology, Jowett translation; Socrates rejects saving himself through a style of pleading he considers unworthy.
