Quotes about Self-determination

I came here to say that I do not recognize anyone's right to one minute of my life. Nor to any part of my energy. Nor to any achievement of mine. No matter who makes the claim, how large their number or how great their need. "I wished to come here and say that I am a man who does not exist for others.

At the end of the day, the circumstances of your life-- what you look like,where you come from, how much money you have, what you've got going on at home--none of that is an excuse... where you are right now doesn't have to determine where you'll end up. No ones written your destiny for you, because here in America, you write you own destiny.You make your own future.

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.

It's the one thing we never quite get over: that we contain our own future.

We are the creative force of our life, and through our own decisions rather than our conditions, if we carefully learn to do certain things, we can accomplish those goals.

It means more than merely taking initiative. It means that as human beings, we are responsible for our own lives. Our behavior is a function of our decisions, not our conditions.

We choose—either to live our lives or to let others live them for us. By making and keeping promises to ourselves and to others, little by little we increase our strength until our ability to act is more powerful than any of the forces that act upon us.

Your life is the fruit of your own doing. You have no one to blame but yourself.

What seems more important are the private independent acts that become more necessary every day.

Many make the mistake of trying to grow their faith through striving and self-determination. This always leads to disappointment and frustration. It can also lead to presumption, which is counterfeit faith—and devastating. Use the measure of faith you have to discover Him for the sake of knowing Him. Increased faith is the result.

You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them." —Maya Angelou

Nobody gets the right to keep you in a pit.