To be independent of public opinion is the first formal condition of achieving anything great.
Our freedom to doubt was born out of a struggle against authority in the early days of science. It was a very deep and strong struggle: permit us to question - to doubt - to not be sure. I think that it is important that we do not forget this struggle and thus perhaps lose what we have gained.
The self-owned and -operated business is the freest life in the world.
You can gain in your effectiveness as a politician from a wide acquaintance with the world and from a degree of independence that having some outside interests gives.
The great virtue of being alone is that your mind can go its own way.
Freedom is an eternal principle. Heaven disapproves of force, coercion and intimidation. Only a free people can be truly a happy people.
We forget that there is much more patriotism in having the audacity to differ from the majority than in running before the crowd; we forget that in the resistance of the minority some of the biggest things in our own history have been accomplished, and the man who looks on the Stars and Stripes and doesn't hold a right to say nay to his neighbor, even if the neighbor is of the larger party, has forgotten the history of his country.
Thus, the Archivist must display at all times scrupulous independence and a devotion to the laws and principles which govern the responsibilities of the office.
To be objective you don't have to be an adversary. You don't have to be a bulldog tearing down everything. To make the system of checks and balances and separation of powers work, you don't have to be on their ass all the time.
I've always decided that I would never be dependant on a man.
Always question the authority.
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?
Exactly what I'm doing is what success looks like. I get to create on my own terms, on my own timeline, and I'm able to support myself and my mom and my cat comfortably.
In the progress of personality, first comes a declaration of independence, then a recognition of interdependence.
Show respect for those in power, but do not follow them blindly.
I call that mind free which protects itself against the usurpations of society, and which does not cower to human opinion: Which refuses to be the slave or tool of the many or of the few, and guards its empire over itself as nobler than the empire of the world.
Self-esteem comes from being able to define the world in your own terms and refusing to abide by the judgments of others.
Stay free of petty jealousies, live by no man's code, and hold your judgment for yourself, lest you wind up on this road.
I have experience and I am employing it in the service of a Chilean road for Chile's problems. We always take advantage of experience wherever it comes from, but adapting it to our reality. I am putting it to use in a Chilean way, for the problems of Chile. We are not anyone's mental colonists.
We will gradually become indifferent to what goes on in the minds of other people when we acquire a knowledge of the superficial nature of their thoughts, the narrowness of their views and of the number of their errors. Whoever attaches a lot of value to the opinions of others pays them too much honor.
I always had a very strong sense of independence. I really liked being able to buy my Alanis Morissette 'Jagged Little Pill' album. I wore that as a badge of honor. I love not having to rely on anyone.
I was just too stubborn to ever be governed by enforced insanity.
Never let anybody guess that you have a mind of your own. Above all be pure
I have, I believe, the courage to doubt everything; I have, I believe, the courage to fight against everything; but I do not have the courage to acknowledge anything, the courage to possess, to own anything.
Who is he that shall control me? Why may not I act and speak and write and think with entire freedom? What am I to the universe, or, the unvierse, what is it to me? Who hath forged the chains of wrong and right, of Opinion and Custom? And must I wear them?
