Henry David Thoreau Quotes

People relate to the spirit of the band, which is to live your way and succeed on your own terms. There's no hypocrisy in being successful and still railing against conformity.

Rules are made for people who aren't willing to make up their own.

I try not to think about anybody's reaction to what I do.

If you can be that link to other people that came before you and the ones that come after, then you have to honor that link. If you are doing what somebody else tells you to do and you have success, it's horrible. And if you are doing what other people tell you to do and you fail, it's equally horrible.

The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it is conformity.

The way I look at it, I'd rather make my own mistakes than have people make them for me.

I have an independent streak. You know, it's kind of hard to tell a independent woman what to do.

Acceptance of prevailing standards often means we have no standards of our own.

The man who lets a leader prescribe his course is a wreck being towed to the scrap heap.

I have an aversion to being mislabeled. Here's a label I'd accept: I'm an 'individual.' I'm someone who can't follow, and doesn't want to lead.

We have to wake up. We have to refuse to be a clone.

I try to not focus on what people expect from me.

I like to play by my own rules.

I cannot compromise or inhibit my independence.

I'm that weird guy; I hate being told what to do.

I have a very independent spirit.

To be honest, I've always had far too much freedom. I had a job when I was 10. I started living on my own when I was 17 or 18. I've earned my own money; I've traveled the world. What would I rebel against?

Any man more right than his neighbors constitutes a majority of one.

Regardless of whether one is a writer or a reader, one's task consists first of all in mastering a life that is one's own, not imposed or prescribed from without, no matter how noble its appearance may be. For each of us is issued but one life, and we know full well how it all ends.

I am very into making up my own rules.

When a man cuts himself absolutely adrift from custom, what an astonishingly light spar floats him! How few his wants are, after all!

I want it to resonate: there's no rule for how to live your life. You can do things your own way.

I always wanted to beat my own path.

Power frees us from the chains of conformity.

I am a fiercely independent person, and I am no one's pawn.