Anita Brookner Quotes

The hero's will is not that of his ancestors nor of his society, but his own. This will to be oneself is heroism.

Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others.

The divine is God's concern; the human, man's. My concern is neither the divine nor the human, not the true, good, just, free, etc., but solely what is 'mine,' and it is not a general one, but is - 'unique,' as I am unique. Nothing is more to me than myself!

No power in society, no hardship in your condition can depress you, keep you down, in knowledge, power, virtue, influence, but by your own consent.

Once you get rid of the idea that you must please other people before you please yourself, and you begin to follow your own instincts - only then can you be successful. You become more satisfied, and when you are, other people will tend to be satisfied by what you do.

Humanism is the creed of those who believe that in the circle of enwrapping mystery, men's fates are in their own hands—a faith that for modern man is becoming the only possible faith.

It is an attitude—an attitude, that is to say, of freedom and even of defiance of the universe. It is really a protest against the entire outlook of the ancient world. Briefly it is the discovery of man.

I'm not trying to live anybody else's life.

The things I do, I do for me, not for no publicity stunt or cameras or whatever.

Man can will nothing unless he has first understood that he must count on no one but himself.

This is your life - you must die by yourself, so for heaven's sake, live for yourself and no one else. . . .

I do not want any patronage, as I do not give any. I am a lover of my own liberty, and so I would do nothing to restrict yours. I simply want to please my own conscience which is God.

In America, it is difficult to be your own man.

I want to do it because I want to do it.

Most people are defined by their titles, their cars, their house, where they came from, their color, their race, their religion. And so it's up to you to take control of your own life and define you. As long as you understand who you are and you have a solid foundation of understanding what your talents are, what your skills are.

I'm just living my life, and I'm not gonna live my life for other people.

Life is about making your own happiness - and living by your own rules.

Life will always be to a large extent what we ourselves make it.

You must learn to exist with no religion, no country, no allies. You must learn to live alone in silence.

Here we are, we're alone in the universe, there's no God, it just seems that it all began by something as simple as sunlight striking on a piece of rock. And here we are. We've only got ourselves. Somehow, we've just got to make a go of it. We've only ourselves.

Your life is yours and yours alone. Rise up and live it.

I'm not jealous of anybody, because I'm going to live my life the way I want to live it. I'm not going to be like, 'Oh my God they have this, I want that.'

It does not follow that the meaning must be given from above; that life and suffering must come neatly labeled; that nothing is worth while if the world is not governed by a purpose.

It doesn't matter that I didn't win a trophy because I did it my way and I lived the dream.

All I need is my brains, my eyes and my personality, for better or for worse.