Think wrongly if you please, but in all cases, think for yourself.
~ Louisa May Alcott
Self-reliance
A man must do as he can when he cannot do as he would.
~ Thomas Draxe
The fox has many tricks. The hedgehog has but one. But that is the best of all.
~ Erasmus
Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Your treasure house is in yourself. It contains all you’ll ever need.
~ Hui Hai
Here is the very heart and soul of the matter. If you look to lead, invest at least 40% of your time managing yourself — your ethics, character, principles, purpose, motivation, and conduct. Invest at least 30% managing those with authority over you, and 15% managing your peers. Use the remainder to induce those you “work for” to understand and practice the theory. I use the terms “work for” advisedly, for if you don’t understand that you should be working for your mislabeled “subordinates,” you haven’t understood anything. Lead yourself, lead your superiors, lead your peers, and free your people to do the same. All else is trivia.
~ Dee Hock
I now believe this without question: Income, position, the opinions of one’s friends, the judgments of one’s peers, and all the other traditional criteria by which human beings are judged are for the birds. The only question is — can you hang on through the crap they throw at you and not lose your freedom or your good sense.
~ James Michener
Self Reliance.
I will gladly listen to the advice of older and wiser people; I will reverence the wishes of those who love and care for me; but I will learn to think for myself. I will not be afraid of being laughed at. I will not be afraid of doing right when the crowd does wrong.
~ William J. Hutchins, The National Institution of Moral Instructions, 1913