Quotes about Self-reliance

Detachment is based on the premises that each person is responsible for himself, that we can't solve problems that aren't ours to solve, and that worrying doesn't help.

I had a mother who would never allow herself to be a victim no matter what happened… Never made excuses, and she never accepted an excuse from us. And if we ever came up with an excuse, she always said, Do you have a brain? And if the answer was yes, then she said, Then you could have thought your way out of it.

I recognized others' abilities as well. But in any career, whether it's that of a TV repairman, a musician, a secretary—or a surgeon—an individual must believe in himself and in his abilities. To do his best, one needs a confidence that says, "I can do anything, and if I can't do it, I know how to get help.

The bottom line was that we have only ourselves to blame. We create our own destiny by the way we do things. We have to take advantage of opportunities

I believe that many of our pressing racial problems will be taken care of when we who are among the minorities will stand on our own feet and refuse to look to anybody else to save us from our situation.

We were very poor. But between the covers of books I could go anywhere, I could be anybody, I could do anything. I began to read about people of great accomplishment. As I read those stories, I began to see a connecting thread. I began to see that the person who had the most to do with you and what happened to you in life, is you. You make decisions. You decide how much energy you want to put behind that decision.

Sometimes the worst conditions can often provide the best atmosphere to act in faith. God doesn't want our confidence regulated by our audience. If faith-discouragers can shake our confidence badly enough to disable us, our confidence may be in ourselves instead of God.

If you've lived your life looking for someone to take care of you but you always end up taking care of everyone else, your search is over. God has what you need, and you'll never wear Him out.

Each person should examine his own work … not in respect to someone else. For each person will have to carry his own load. Galatians 6:4—5

I've always said we need to build resilience locally.

The power to take charge was in my hands; all I had to do was believe it.

You can not live your life just based on what everyone else thinks.