Self Quotes

Without self knowledge, without understanding the working and functions of his machine, man cannot be free, he cannot govern himself and he will always remain a slave.

George Gurdjieff

There is a certain impertinance in allowing oneself to be burned for an opinion.

Anatole France

A great leader never sets himself above his followers except in carrying responsibilities.

Jules Ormont

He who despises himself nevertheless esteems himself as a self - Despiser.

Friedrich Nietzsche

Let me advise thee not to talk of thyself as being old. There is something in Mind Cure, after all, and if thee continually talks of thyself as being old, thee may perhaps bring on some of the infirmities of age. At least I would not risk it if I were thee.

Hannah Whitall Smith, 1907

There is a great deal of wishful thinking in such cases it is the easiest thing of all to deceive ones self.

Demosthenes

Hope is itself a species of happiness, and, perhaps, the chief happiness which this world affords.

Samuel Johnson

No man is free who is not master of himself.

Epictetus

There is a luxury in self - Reproach. When we blame ourselves, we feel that no one else has a right to blame us. It is the confession, not the priest, that gives us absolution.

Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891

What is fame? The advantage of being known by people of whom you yourself know nothing, and for whom you care as little.

Stanislaus

The trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed.

C. S. Lewis

Forgiveness is almost a selfish act because of its immense benefits to the one who forgives.

Lawana Blackwell, The Dowry of Miss Lydia Clark, 1999

The self - Explorer, whether he wants to or not, becomes the explorer of everything else. He learns to see himself, but suddenly, provided he was honest, all the rest appears, and it is as rich as he was, and, as a final crowning, richer.

Elias Canetti

Ultimately, the only power to which man should aspire is that which he exercises over himself.

Elie Wiesel

Forgive thyself little, and others much.

Leighton

Love, unrequited, robs me of my rest Love, hopeless love, my ardent soul encumbers Love, nightmare - Like, lies heavy on my chest, And weaves itself into my midnight slumbers.

William S. Gilbert

Any effort that has self - Glorification as its final endpoint is bound to end in disaster.

Robert M. Pirsig

Christmas gift suggestions To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect.

Oren Arnold

One must not be mean with the affections what is spent of the fund is renewed in the spending itself.

Sigmund Freud

I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A bird will fall frozen dead from the bow of a ship without ever having felt sorry for itself.

D. H. Lawerence

to be yourself in a world that is doing its best, day and night to make you like everybody else - - Is to fight the hardest battle any human being can fight.

E. e. cummings

When you look at yourself from a universal standpoint, something inside always reminds or informs you that there are bigger and better things to worry about.

Albert Einstein, The World as I See It.

Self - Esteem is the reputation we acquire with ourselves.

Nathaniel Branden

Make yourself familiar with the angels, and behold them frequently in spirit for without being seen, they are present with you.

Saint Francis de Sales

Self awareness is NOT just a bunch of amino acids bumping together.

Robert Anson Heinlein

The happy man is not he who seems thus to others, but who seems thus to himself.

Publilius Syrus

Give not over thy soul to sorrow and afflict not thyself in thy own counsel. Gladness of heart is the life of man and the joyfulness of man is length of days.

Ecclesiastes

Your mind, which is yourself, can be likened to a house. The first necessary move then, is to rid that house of all but furnishings essential to success.

John McDonald

The wise man does not permit himself to set up even in his own mind any comparisons of his friends. His friendship is capable of going to extremes with many people, evoked as it is by many qualities.

Charles Dudley Warne

The belief that there is only one truth and that oneself is in possession of it seems to me the deepest root of all evil that is in the world.

Max Born

I have no help to send, therefore I must go myself.

J. R. R. Tolkien, The Return of the King

Education must provide the opportunities for self - Fulfillment it can at best provide a rich and challenging environment for the individual to explore, in his own way.

Noam Chomsky

Women with pasts interest men... they hope history will repeat itself.

Mae West

The only difference between a madman and myself is that I am not mad.

Salvidor Dali

He that cannot forgive others, breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass if he would ever reach heaven; for everyone has need to be forgiven.

Lord Herbert

When he stood up, it was a very complicated motion. If the deck chairs on the Ship to the Sea of Night had opened up, they would have done so like that. It was like he was unfolding himself forever.

Neil Gaiman, Good Omens

We learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it than we do from learning the answer itself.

Lloyd Alexande