Nelson Mandela Quotes

I'm at peace with myself. The main thing is not letting people dictate what I do or what I am.

To free us from the expectations of others, to give us back to ourselves - there lies the great, singular power of self-respect.

I don't need anybody to tell me how to be alive.

Independence is the only gauge of human virtue and value. What a man is and makes of himself; not what he has or hasn’t done for others. There is no substitute for personal dignity.

What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and in intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness.

I am not in this world to live up to other people's expectations, nor do I feel that the world must live up to mine.

You cannot belong to anyone else, until you belong to yourself.

Self-actualized people are independent of the good opinion of others.

You have enough people against you... be for yourself.

I'm not someone who feels the pressure of someone else's expectations. That's a very young way to feel.

Do we not realize that self respect comes with self reliance?

I don't need anyone to validate me.

There will always be some people who think for themselves, even among the self-appointed guardians of the great mass who, after having thrown off the yoke of immaturity themselves, will spread about them the spirit of a reasonable estimate of their own value and of the need for every man to think for himself.

No strength within, no respect without.

We aren’t here to be loved.

Do not deliver yourself up as a slave to any man.

I am myne owene woman, wel at ese

The true woman will not be exponent of another, or allow another to be such for her. She will be her own individual self... Stand or fall by her own individual wisdom and strength.

The love of independence and dislike of unjust treatment is the source of a thousand virtues.

I am going to walk away when I'm ready to walk away. Not because of a win or a loss.

You alone are enough.

We try to teach women how to be strong, how to believe in themselves, how to make themselves happy, as opposed to pleasing someone else first.

I don't care what people think anymore. I don't think I've got anything to prove.

My confidence comes from me, not from Jon Jones. I can't draw my confidence from another person.

I don't allow people's outlook on me dictate what I do in my life and how I live my life.