Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Quotes

I was nine years old when I made up my mind that that was what I definitely wanted to do.

I fought my grandfather like you wouldn't believe. I went my own way and decided to become a racing driver. I don't think I would ever have fought as hard as I did if my grandfather had been a reasonable person.

I never pondered during my struggling phase that I should have become an engineer, as I knew that was not my life. I couldn't have lived it. It would have been a very claustrophobic life.

I knew what I wanted to do even when I was a little girl.

Clearly, I'm drawn to characters with inner conflicts.

At school, I decided I wanted to be a director and then I went out and spent the rest of my adult life trying to be a director. It was really clear to me. So in that sense I was very lucky.

My parents were absolutely delighted that I knew what I wanted to do.

I didn't have anybody, really, no foundation in life, so I had to make my own way. Always, from the start. I had to go out in the world and become strong, to discover my mission in life.

I never had an existential moment when I asked myself what I was going to do. I always wanted to be a lawyer, and I knew exactly the kind of lawyer I wanted to be.

What about the rat race in the first place? Is it worthwhile? Or are you just buying into someone else's definition of success? Only you can decide that, and you'll have to decide it over and over and over. But if you think it's a rat race, before you drop out, take a deep breath. Maybe you picked the wrong job. Try again. And then try again.

I was fiercely independent and ambitious from a very young age.

My father was a salesman, and I always said I wouldn't be one.

Basically that was the moment when I thought I'd like to do this forever. I never changed my mind.

I decided early that I would be a writer when I grew up. That, I thought, was the profession that went with the kind of woman I wanted to become: one who is free to do whatever she chooses.

Have you watched Animal Planet? The lioness is out there hunting the zebras, the gazelles, all sorts of things, so you need to be the fierce lioness or dragon that you are. Have that inner fire. See what you want, get it, and ask nobody for permission.

I know who I am, and I know what my future holds.

I like what I'm doing. If I didn't like what I was doing, I'd be doing something else.

You figure out what you value in this life, and then you go for it. For me, it was freedom.

I think it's important to be that strong woman and to follow your passions regardless of what your situation is.

Not too many people know what they want to do at 3 and then go do it.

I knew what I wanted to do with my life: I wanted to fight.

I had these false ambitions - marketing and MBA. I didn't do very badly at it, but I realised my calling was something else.

I'm not saying it's going to be easy. Nothing in life is easy. But that's no reason to give up. You'll be surprised what you can accomplish if you set your mind to it.After all, you only have one life, so you should try to make the most of it.

Desire is the factor that determines what your definite purpose in life shall be.

I had no monarch in my life, and cannot rule myself; and when I try to organize, my little force explodes and leaves me bare and charred.