I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.
Whoever is not in the possession of leisure can hardly be said to possess independence.
The man who is aware of himself is henceforward independent; and he is never bored, and life is only too short, and he is steeped through and through with a profound yet temperate happiness.
Men being, as has been said, by nature, all free, equal and independent, no one can be put out of this estate, and subjected to the political power of another, without his own consent.
If adventures will not befall a young lady in her own village, she must seek them abroad.
I try not to borrow. First you borrow. Then you beg.
You don’t need anybody to tell you who you are or what you are. You are what you are!
True independence of character empowers us to act rather than be acted upon.
To be independent of public opinion is the first formal condition of achieving anything great or rational whether in life or in science.[Unabhängigkeit von ihr die erste formelle Bedingungzu etwas Großem und Vernünftigem (in der Wirklichkeitwie in der Wissenschaft).]
There are few enough people with sufficient independence to see the weaknesses and follies of their contemporaries and remain themselves untouched by them.
The world is always satisfied, it turns out, with a countenance it can understand. Indolence and cowardice do the rest. Independence is earned by a few words of cheap confidence.[Il suffit en effet de présenter au monde une face qu’il pmsse comprendre. La paresse et la lâcheté font le reste. L’indépendance se gagne avec quelques mots de confidence à bon marché.]
The strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone.[Den stærkeste mand i verden, det er han, som står mest alene.]
