Self is the only prison that can ever bind the soul. ...
by Henry Van Dyke

Self is the only prison that can ever bind the soul.
- Henry Van Dyke

Related topics: Ego

Use what talents you possess.
The woods would be very silent
if no birds sang there,
except those that sang best.
- Henry Van Dyke

You do not need anyone's permission to be your true self.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Simply do your best, and you will avoid
self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.
- don Miguel Ruiz

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Thank you for joining me on this journey we call life,
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Nearly all men can stand adversity,
but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.
- Abraham Lincoln

It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.
- Edmund Hillary

Forgiveness is an act of self-love and respect.
- don Miguel Ruiz

I do not need anyone's permission to be my true self.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Stand Tall, Stand Proud.
Know that you are unique and magnificent.
You do not need the approval of others.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

No one was ever named "Hero" for following the crowd.
Heroes set their own course.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

What lies behind us and what lies before us
are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

You have enemies? Good.
That means you've stood up for something,
sometime in your life.
- Winston Churchill

Always be a first-rate version of yourself,
instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.
- Judy Garland

It is our choices ... that show what we truly are,
far more than our abilities.
- J. K. Rowling (Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets)

Grin your smile; giggle your laugh; unfurl your joy;
dash the last trace of your self-consciousness;
and cavort your most uninhibited play.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Be that self which one truly is.
- Soren Kierkegaard

I sail the seas of life as the MASTER of my ship.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The greatest hazard of all, losing one's self,
can occur very quietly in the world, as if it were nothing at all.
- Soren Kierkegaard

The way to develop self-confidence
is to do the thing you fear
and get a record of successful experiences behind you.
- William Jennings Bryan

If a man is called to be a street sweeper,
he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted,
or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry.
He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts
of heaven and earth will pause to say,
here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Happiness blooms
in the presence of self-respect
and the absence of ego.
Love yourself.
Love everyone around you.
Love everyone in the whole world.
Know that your own life is of infinite importance,
as is every other life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

That you may retain your self-respect, it is better
to displease the people by doing what you know is right,
than to temporarily please them by doing what you know is wrong.
- William J. H. Boetcker

Nobody can bring you peace but yourself.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

One important key to success is self-confidence.
An important key to self-confidence is preparation.
- Arthur Ashe

Listen to the compass of your heart.
All you need lies within you.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Talent is God-given; be humble.
Fame is man-given; be thankful.
Conceit is self-given; be careful.
- John Wooden

Your greatest gift to your family and friends is yourself -
your relaxed, happy, and fully-present self.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

This above all, to thine own self be true.
- William Shakespeare

Smiling away your troubles requires
a clear conscience that harbors no insincerity.
- Paramahansa Yogananda

Remember always that you have not only the right to be an individual,
you have an obligation to be one.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Society censors our actions,
but our dreams reveal our true character.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

With manners comes insincerity.
Truth is sometimes difficult.
- Bono

You can't let praise or criticism get to you.
It's a weakness to get caught up in either one.
- John Wooden

If I try to be like him, who will be like me?
- Yiddish proverb

The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance;
the wise grows it under his feet.
- J. Robert Oppenheimer

What you do speaks so loudly
that I cannot hear what you say.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

The biggest mistake we could ever make in our lives
is to think we work for anybody but ourselves.
- Brian Tracy

The higher the sun rises, the less shadow it casts;
even so, the greater is the goodness, the less it covets praise;
yet cannot avoid its rewards in honors.
- Lao Tzu

Reputation is what other people know about you.
Honor is what you know about yourself.
- Lois McMaster Bujold

Self-respect is not a function of size, age, or wealth.
Breathe deep, sing loud and sweet,
"I am me, I am unique, I am magnificent."
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

A "No" uttered from deepest conviction
is better and greater than a "Yes" merely uttered to please,
or what is worse, to avoid trouble.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

When I'm trusting and being myself...
everything in my life reflects this
by falling into place easily, often miraculously.
- Shakti Gawain

Whatever happens, take responsibility.
- Tony Robbins

Believe in yourself, and trust your own wisdom
rather than being swayed by the opinions of others.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

When you are impeccable, you take
responsibility for your actions,
but you do not judge or blame yourself.
- don Miguel Ruiz

When you do your best
you learn to accept yourself
- don Miguel Ruiz

Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once.
- William Shakespeare

You can't base your life on other people's expectations.
- Stevie Wonder

If a man loses pace with his companions,
perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.
Let him step to the music which he hears,
however measured or far away.
- Henry David Thoreau

It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.
- e. e. cummings

The man who goes alone can start today;
but he who travels with another
must wait till that other is ready.
- Henry David Thoreau

Gain happiness by living in the present -
without regret for the past or fear of the future.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Remember that nurturing yourself is as important
(if not more so) as nurturing others.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

The only tyrant I accept in this world is the still voice within.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

Our mettle is tested by storms,
not by calm.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The Four Agreements
1.Be impeccable with your word.
2.Don't take anything personally.
3.Don't make assumptions.
4.Always do your best.
- don Miguel Ruiz

Do you want to know who you are?
Don't ask. Act!
Action will delineate and define you.
- Thomas Jefferson

Whenever you do a thing,
act as if all the world were watching.
- Thomas Jefferson

What you seem to be, be really.
- Benjamin Franklin

Wisdom has its root in goodness,
not goodness its root in wisdom.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Never do things others can do and will do
if there are things others cannot do or will not do.
- Amelia Earhart

What I am looking for is not out there, it is in me.
- Helen Keller

Who were you before you put yourself last.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Whatever you do may seem insignificant to you,
but it is most important that you do it.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

If you would lift me up you must be on higher ground.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Society is a masked ball,
where every one hides his real character,
and reveals it by hiding.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Don't bother just to be better than
your contemporaries or predecessors.
Try to be better than yourself.
- William Faulkner

Never bend your head. Always hold it high.
Look the world straight in the eye.
- Helen Keller

If you don't have confidence, you'll always find a way not to win.
- Carl Lewis

You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe,
deserves your love and affection.
- The Buddha

When I let go of what I am,
I become what I might be.
- Lao Tzu

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May the world be kind to you, and may your own thoughts be gentle upon yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie