Judith Martin Quotes

Why do I act like this, agreeing when I really disagree, letting people force me to do things I don't want to do?

I tend to not speak up as much, so saying no is rather difficult for me. The biggest step of being an adult is saying, "This is what I do like. This is what I don't like." Being yourself means certain people aren't going to like that. I'm still figuring it out and taking things day by day.

I'm apologetic when I feel like I've made a mistake. And when I have done a disservice to myself or someone else. But I don't feel a need to apologize for doing or saying something that I think needs to be said, just because it may not sit comfortably with somebody else.

Don't say yes to everything. Learn how to say no, because people respect a no.

I'm done living for other people. I'm done being a people pleaser. I'm done thinking about what people think about me.

I'm never argumentative for the sake of being argumentative, I don't think. And more than ever, I've had to be willing to fight just to get records released, or just to be able to walk away with a little bit of self-respect and pride.

I dig my heels in every now and then, and think 'I'm not going to do what's expected or what people think is the right thing.' So I have a little bit of that in my personality.

I don't take crap from anyone, so that makes people think I'm rebellious. I'm not. I'm just not a pushover.

I see people giving me looks because I'm so opinionated. That hurts my feelings, but at the end of the day I have to live with me and respect myself. And I've done enough things in my life where I was confused and didn't respect myself that I will not do it any more.

I think the most important thing is to, without belligerence, stand up for what want. Argue compellingly if someone tries to change your script.

Truly powerful people don't explain why they want respect. They simply don't engage someone who doesn't give it to them.

Standing up for yourself doesn't always involve verbal confrontation. Sometimes it's about not wasting energy on people who are negative.

A lot of people said, Who do you think you are? I told them I know exactly who I am and I'll tell you exactly where I'm going.

I'm a person who's fine saying 'No.' I like saying to myself, "no gossiping," "no nagging."

There's a lot of power in the word 'no,' and a lot of people, like myself, need to know that.

Saying "yes" doesn't mean I don't know how to say no, and saying "please" doesn't mean I am waiting for permission.

If your family or your people are looking over your shoulder, change your seat or push them away.

I've heard some pretty bad things in my life. I'm just one of those people I've gotten to a point where I don't want to be rude, but if it's uninvited attention from people it's like, "Thank you, but no." I'm going to shut you down right away.

But most important of all, she explained that it was all right to say 'No. I disagree.' that was a gift. I understood it was power. The power to think my own thoughts. The power to believe in myself.

I mean, I think everybody in the world, all the young people in the world, went to journalism school and wanted to investigate everything. And I think they overdid it. I think that you have to investigate things, you have to e skeptical, but you shouldn't be vengeful. You have to be fair and you have to be careful.

Let's say that, personally, I loved Hillary Clinton. Would WikiLeaks still publish this material? Of course it would. Otherwise, we would be censoring it. That's our mandate. It's actually interesting to think about what media organizations wouldn't publish such material if it was given to them.

"A closed mouth doesn't get fed." Oftentimes, we feel not worthy or we don't want to bother people. We forget to ask for help or what we need or would like. My grandmother used to say that quote to us as kids. It's kind of always stuck with me.

I think that - not just as a journalist but as a human being - I have the ethical responsibility to avoid actions that can harm innocent people.

Stop saying yes out of fear about what others will think about you and say NO out of love for yourself!

I think the news people no longer have any idea of what covering the news is.