The highest manifestation of life consists in this: that a being governs its own actions. A thing which is always subject to the direction of another is somewhat of a dead thing. – Thomas Aquinas
To be ones own master is to be the slave of self. – Natalie Clifford Barney
The best way to get yourself a reputation as a dangerous citizen is to go about repeating the very phrases which our founding fathers used in the struggle for independence. – Charles Austin Beard
Without moral and intellectual independence, there is no anchor for national independence. – David Ben-Gurion
We carry our homes within us which enables us to fly. – John Milton Cage
No one can build his security upon the nobleness of another person. – Willa Cather
No man who is not willing to help himself has any right to apply to his friends, or to the gods. – Demosthenes
Be your own palace, or the world is your jail. – John Donne
The ship of heaven guides itself and will not accept a wooden rudder. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
This gives force to the strong — that the multitude have no habit of self-reliance or original action. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
The best lightning rod for your protection is your own spine. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
No one can cheat you out of ultimate success but yourself. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Self-reliance is its aversion. It loves not realities and creators, but names and customs. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
There is no one subsists by himself alone. – Owen Felltham
I am lord of myself, accountable to none. – Benjamin Franklin
There is no dependence that can be sure but a dependence upon ones self. – John Gay
In the word of no master am I bound to believe. – Horace
Its easy to be independent when youve got money. But to be independent when you havent got a thing — thats the Lords test. – Mahalia Jackson
If it is to be, it is up to me. – William H. Johnsen
